Jailed Waihī woman's plea for home detention dismissed after serious SH2 crash

Maxine Avlon Paul, 58, was sentenced at the Tauranga High Court in October last year. Photo / File

A WaihĪ woman's plea to serve home detention instead of jail time after being found guilty of causing a crash that seriously injured herself and three others has been dismissed.

Maxine Avlon Paul, 58, was found guilty of two charges of dangerous driving causing injury following a crash on State Highway 2 between Tauranga and Katikati in January 2017.

In October, Paul was sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment and was ordered to pay $3500 reparation costs in $10 weekly instalments.

She appealed the judge's decision and instead sought home detention.

However, the three-judge panel on the court of appeal including Justice Collins, Simon France and Lang JJ dismissed Paul's wish.

Paul also applied to cite further evidence of her offer to pay $5000 in a lump sum, which was granted.

The court's decision, written by Justice Collins, said Paul was in the front passenger seat of a car driven by her then partner along SH2 between Tauranga and Katikati on January 7, 2017.

The pair had been drinking that day and arguing inside the car when Paul reached across to grab the steering wheel, pulling the car onto the wrong side of the road, the decision said.

Paul's partner managed to regain control before Paul grabbed the steering wheel again, causing the car to cross onto the wrong side of the road and crash into a Toyota Hilux wagon.

The driver suffered cracked ribs and abdominal bruising while the driver of the Toyota suffered a cut to his forehead and extensive injury to his left wrist.

A passenger in the Toyota suffered cuts to her skull, whiplash and multiple contusions, as well as hearing damage.

Paul suffered a broken nose, cheekbone, sternum and ribs.

Following her sentencing, Paul appealed the decision saying the original order of two years and eight months in jail was too high.

Through her counsel, Paul said she was not behind the wheel and described her offending as spontaneous.

The decision referred to the High Court's ruling, which described Paul's conduct as an "angry, alcohol and emotion-fuelled act carried out with no respect for the consequences".

It stated the serious harm caused by Paul's actions not only caused physical injuries but also significant financial harm to the driver of the Toyota who can no longer work due to his injuries.

After examining the cases referred to by the High Court judge, Justice Collins agreed with the sentence of three years and eight months in jail.

His reason was due to the "dangerous, irresponsible offending that could have easily resulted in the deaths of one or more innocent persons".

The High Court Judge reduced the sentence to two years and three months in jail to reflect the reparation order that was made.

However, the decision said Paul's offer to increase reparation was motivated by her desire to drop the length of her prison sentence in the hope she would be eligible for home detention.

"We are not satisfied that reducing Ms Paul's sentence would be a principled response to the increased reparation offer...," the decision read.

"Particularly, Ms Paul has not demonstrated any genuine remorse."