Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Northland boy permanently disabled in crash caused by 11-time drink-driver

Sarah Curtis
By Sarah Curtis
Multimedia Journalist·Northern Advocate (Whangarei)·
18 May, 2022 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wreckage of two cars after a crash in Raumanga on December 28 caused by Peter Stringfellow (inset).

Wreckage of two cars after a crash in Raumanga on December 28 caused by Peter Stringfellow (inset).

An 8-year-old boy will never recover from the injuries he received when an 11-time drink-driver, disregarding a driving ban for the 10th time, ploughed into his family's vehicle.

The boy suffered a fractured skull and was flown to Starship Hospital where he was in a coma for three weeks with a device inserted into his skull to relieve intracranial pressure.

When he regained consciousness there were several weeks when he was unable to talk or move the right side of his body and had to be tube-fed.

While he had since regained some mobility, the effects of his traumatic brain injury will be lifelong and the boy will have permanent disabilities, the extent of which will only become apparent over time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Peter Leonard Thomas Stringfellow, 54, was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 217mg - the equivalent of a breath-alcohol reading of between 1050 and 1080 micrograms - when he caused the crash about 3.45pm on December 28, last year.

He was a disqualified driver and three months into a sentence of community detention and intensive supervision imposed on him for a drink-drive offence six months earlier.
He breached that sentence when he consumed alcohol.

Stringfellow, appearing for sentence by audio-visual link in Whangārei District Court, was jailed by Judge Gene Tomlinson for three years, nine months, with a minimum non-parole period of two years, and disqualified from driving for five years.

The court was told Stringfellow was driving his Holden Commodore at speeds of up to 106km/h in a 50km densely populated area in Raumanga, Whangārei, just ahead of the crash.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Despite good driving conditions, Stringfellow lost control of the car on a corner, crossed into the opposite lane, and collided head-on with a Ford Ranger vehicle in which the boy was a passenger.

Police crash experts put Stringfellow's speed on impact at 76km/h. The Ford was shunted off the road and on to the footpath.

Both vehicles were extensively damaged.

Judge Tomlinson said information before the court showed Stringfellow was driving in convoy that night with another vehicle, the driver of which was also intoxicated.

Police noted Stringfellow's comment at the scene, "Well that's the next two years of my life f****d".

Judge Tomlinson said it showed "extreme selfishness". But thankfully - once the full enormity of the harm he caused to the boy and other consequences of his actions had been brought home to him - Stringfellow had since expressed proper and suitable remorse, he said.

Stringfellow himself has a 2-year-old child with significant health issues and realised he had now brought that on someone else.

In a victim impact statement, the boy's mother described the time her son was in hospital as "extremely traumatic" not only for her but for the boy's brother, who was extremely distressed.

It was initially feared the injured boy would not recover from his inability to move one side of his body but he had regained some mobility and was again able to chew food and swallow.

He had since been discharged from intensive care and from a specialist rehabilitation centre.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But he did not get to go home - his mother having lost her job and the house that went with it due to the time she needed to spend at her son's bedside.

The family were now living with her parents and were dependent on the Government and whānau for financial assistance.

The boy's mum said this was the most difficult time of her life and she was in a financial crisis.

She is not sure what the future holds for her son but she is a hopeful person and nurtures her optimism with daily karakia and waiata.

Paediatric rehabilitation medical specialist Dr Jimmy Chong told the court the extent of the boy's injuries would become more apparent over time and will especially take the form of cognitive and behavioural issues that will last long beyond the physical injuries.

The gravity of Stringfellow's offending was grave and his culpability high, the judge said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The lead charge - aggravated drink-driving causing injury - was punishable by up to five years' jail. While this offence came near to the top of that range, it was not the worst case and the court had to reserve the top sentence range for those.

He set a sentence starting point of three years, six months, uplifting it by 12 months for Stringfellow's previous relevant convictions, and a further six months for the driving while disqualified and breach of intensive supervision offences.

The judge refused to give a full 25 per cent discount for Stringfellow's guilty pleas, reducing it to 20 per cent due to the strength of the overwhelming police case against him. There was a 5 per cent discount for Stringfellow's remorse.

Crown prosecutor Mike Smith urged the judge to impose a minimum non-parole period. Counsel Martin Hislop argued against it, saying it would be a disincentive for Stringfellow to engage with rehabilitative programmes.

Judge Tomlinson said without it Stringfellow would be eligible for parole after 15 months - not enough to hold him accountable, deter others, and protect the community from him.

He disqualified Stringfellow from driving for five years, noting it needed to extend well beyond his release and could be redundant given Stringfellow's past lack of compliance.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The boy's grandmother was in court for the sentencing and was visibly upset throughout.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

The Good Drop: Warehouse, Salvation Army team up for textile recycling

Northern Advocate

Police name person who died in early morning Kaitāia crash

Northern Advocate

Kaipara mayoral hopefuls on rates, museums and what they would do differently


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

The Good Drop: Warehouse, Salvation Army team up for textile recycling
Northern Advocate

The Good Drop: Warehouse, Salvation Army team up for textile recycling

Donors receive a 10% voucher for clothing purchases over $30 as an incentive.

14 Jul 04:00 AM
Police name person who died in early morning Kaitāia crash
Northern Advocate

Police name person who died in early morning Kaitāia crash

14 Jul 02:07 AM
 Kaipara mayoral hopefuls on rates, museums and what they would do differently
Northern Advocate

Kaipara mayoral hopefuls on rates, museums and what they would do differently

14 Jul 12:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP