Nelson pair Reuben Finn and Bronte LeLievre landed themselves in court after a public display of affection on board an Air New Zealand regional flight from Auckland to Nelson. Each has now been sentenced on a charge of performing an indecent act in a public place. Image / NZME composite
A woman who was part of a couple pinged for excessive kissing on a regional flight has been sent to prison.
Bronte LeLievre, 33, was sentenced in the Nelson District Court today for a spate of offences, including performing an indecent act in a public place, namely an Air New Zealand flight.
It was the second most serious of 12 charges she faced, with a high-value burglary the lead charge, Judge Tony Snell said. There were also several charges of meth-impaired driving in the months leading up to last November’s in-flight behaviour, and afterwards.
Her co-offender on the indecency charge, Reuben Finn, was sentenced in September to six months of community detention and 12 months of supervision. The sentence included other offences, including theft.
Judge Garry Barkle, who sentenced Finn, said it was apparent from the summary of facts that the pair’s in-flight conduct caused “much embarrassment and discomfort” to the passengers and crew.
Judge Snell said addiction was the root cause of LeLievre’s crime “spree”.
She had since expressed remorse and said it was unlikely she would have behaved in such a way had she not been under the influence of drugs.
The Air New Zealand regional flight with 48 people on board left Auckland on the morning of November 13 last year, bound for Nelson.
The pair were seated at the front in row 3.
As the flight approached Nelson and started its descent, LeLievre and Finn began “kissing each other excessively”.
One of two flight attendants asked them to stop, for the sake of other passengers.
But the pair carried on until the flight attendant asked them again to stop, or the flight deck would be notified.
Finn then reached inside LeLievre’s bra and began fondling her, which others on the flight could see.
The flight attendant alerted the flight deck while the second attendant approached the couple, who by then had progressed to heavier petting.
When they saw the attendant approach, they pretended to be asleep, but Finn still had his hand inside LeLievre’s clothes.
Once the flight landed in Nelson, police boarded the flight and arrested the couple.
Three months earlier, on August 28 last year, LeLievre’s meth-induced behaviour while driving ended with charges including driving dangerously, driving with blood containing a qualifying drug above a high risk level, and giving false information about her identity.
She had taken methamphetamine before driving that morning. She was seen tailgating other vehicles and swerving across SH6 Tāhunanui Drive and Rocks Rd as she headed towards Nelson city.
At one point, she wandered into the oncoming lane of the busy highway, disrupting traffic, including large trucks, which had to brake suddenly.
She drove through a major intersection as the light turned red, and then into a barrier along Rocks Rd.
As she continued towards Nelson, she was seen driving erratically before suddenly swerving into the right-hand lane of a roundabout and driving straight through.
She continued through several more intersections and busy inner-city streets, and narrowly avoided a head-on collision with another vehicle. The driver had pulled as far to the left as possible, but ended up losing a wing mirror as LeLievre scraped past.
When she was stopped by the police, she gave them her sister’s details and continued to provide false details throughout police proceedings.
Analysis of a compulsory impairment test showed she had a “potentially toxic” concentration of methamphetamine in her system at 640 nanograms per millilitre of blood.
Research showed that level would cause “significant psychomotor impairment” and have serious adverse health effects.
LeLievre was identified at the police station by an officer who had dealt with her before, and who alerted staff to the false details she had provided.
A burglary charge followed when, about 4am on September 8, LeLievre and an associate were seen on CCTV entering a property through the front gate in Atawhai, north of Nelson.
They walked around for about 40 minutes, then took items including a caravan, a tomahawk cover, a spotting scope, a rifle cover, plus tools and equipment.
About five days later, police searched a nearby property and found the items, apart from the caravan.
Judge Snell said a 70-year-old man, who had lived in the home for many years and had once felt secure, said in his victim impact statement that he had since lost confidence in human nature.
A month after the flight to Nelson, LeLievre lost control of her vehicle and collided with another parked in Tāhunanui.
She was found unresponsive in the driver’s seat, “utterly befuddled” by drugs, Judge Snell said.
She was taken to hospital by ambulance, where tests showed high levels of methamphetamine and cannabis in her system.
It led to charges of driving while under the influence of drugs, and careless driving.
Judge Snell said LeLievre had been “high as a kite” on meth and incapable of driving safely, meaning she was a danger to herself and members of the public.
LeLievre was further charged with resisting and assaulting police when they arrived at her home just after midnight on January 25 this year to let her know she was under arrest.
She “actively resisted” arrest and later told police she was “freaking out” and didn’t want to be locked in the cells.
On March 2 this year, after being stopped by police while driving, she again gave false details.
Her lawyer, Dave Holloway, said LeLievre, who had been in custody on remand for some time, had had a chance to reflect and was motivated to address her addiction problems.
She said in a pre-sentence report that meth had “ruined my life”, and acknowledged it had also harmed the victims of her offending.
Judge Snell said it was an appropriate comment, as LeLievre, who had a minimal record, appeared to have gone “completely off track” in the past year.
He said it was admirable that she wanted to fix her life and build on her relationship with her young daughter. While the court would do what it could to help, it would be a long journey.
LeLievre was sentenced to two years in prison on all but two charges, with leave to apply for home detention once a suitable address was found.
She was convicted and discharged for giving false information. She was also disqualified from driving for 16 months and ordered to pay $400 in reparations to the burglary victim, which was her share of the insurance excess.
She was also ordered to pay $3799 to the police as reparation for analysts’ fees and medical expenses.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government, for the Nelson Mail.