Annette King's daughter pleads not guilty

Health Minister Annette King's daughter has pleaded not guilty to two charges of dangerous driving and one of possessing the drug Ecstasy.

Amanda Jane King, a 31-year-old Wellington teacher, was driving her mother's ministerial car, a red Volkswagen Beetle, near Taupo on New Year's Eve when it crashed into another vehicle, injuring passenger Simon Hanify and another man. King suffered a broken leg and arm.

Police found one Ecstasy tablet in the car.

King was to appear in the Taupo District Court yesterday but was granted exclusion. Her lawyer, Palmerston North QC Mike Behrens, entered her plea.

A status hearing has been scheduled for August.