Auckland man flees police on SH1 exceeding 200km/h with partner, toddler in car

Tiyrone Ballantine, 22, formerly of Hamilton, was clocked travelling at more than 200km/h on the Waikato Expressway as he fled police with his baby and partner in the car.

An Auckland man exceeded 200km/h on the Waikato Expressway, weaving in and out of traffic and narrowly avoiding motorists as he fled police with his baby and partner in the car.

Tiyrone Hayden Richard Ballantine’s driving on January 12 was so bad that the police Eagle helicopter was called to get him to stop.

Ballantine, 22, formerly of Hamilton, had traded his vehicle for a Mazda 6 but, when he checked on Carjam, he realised it had been stolen.

He used the car anyway and, together with his 19-year-old partner and 11-month-old baby, was heading south on the expressway at Meremere when police signalled for him to stop after noticing the car was listed as stolen.

He slowed down and indicated left, but then rapidly accelerated in excess of 100km/h.

He continued speeding, weaving in and out of traffic in both lanes “in excess of 200km/h”, court documents state.

He overtook multiple vehicles and used multiple off and on-ramps to exit and re-enter SH1 at speed.

The Eagle helicopter was called in and began tracking the car, noticing it almost sideswiped vehicles while still travelling about 200km/h.

Ballantine finally came to a stop at a dead-end section of Te Kowhai Rd and was arrested.

He appeared before Judge Noel Cucurollo for sentencing in the Young Adult Court in Hamilton today on charges of reckless driving, failing to stop, and an amended charge of causing a public nuisance, which has a one-year maximum sentence.

He was originally charged with child endangerment/ill-treatment of a child which has a 10-year maximum.

His counsel, Afitu Veatupu, said although a pre-sentence report recommended community work, his client wanted community detention as he would be unable to drive.

He had only one other conviction for failing to stop, and was the father to two children to two different women, one of whom he currently lives with in Auckland.

Veatupu urged the judge to backdate his driving disqualification to January as Ballantine was a young man who hadn’t offended again since being on bail and was the main driver for their family.

He’d also served a night in custody, which was a “wake-up call for him”.

“It’s an achievement that he didn’t continue to drive and breach his bail,” he said.

However, while Judge Cocurullo agreed to hand down a community detention sentence, he refused to backdate the disqualification.

“I’m not going to backdate it, it was a disgraceful piece of driving.”

The judge told Ballantine that he not only put himself at risk, but also his child and partner.

“You had an obligation when the officer put on the red and blue flashing lights to pull over immediately.

“Your lawyer asked me to backdate your disqualification.

“Not only will I not be backdating the disqualification, you are going to get a longer disqualification than the minimum mandatory because you shouldn’t be on the road.

“I’ve got a clear view. You need 18 months off the road ... that will be 18 months for you to grow up.”

Ballantine was sentenced to five months’ community detention and disqualified from driving for 18 months.

Belinda Feek has been a reporter for 19 years, and at the Herald for eight years, joining the Open Justice team in 2022.