Schooner’s partner and their newborn baby were also in court. It was Schooner’s first meeting with his child, after being in custody, and the judge described the introduction as an “unfortunate circumstance” and allowed him to hold the baby for a short time.
The court heard that in the early evening of August 18 this year, Schooner was driving along Main North Rd in Christchurch.
He had suffered an injury to his left hand and was holding the steering wheel with his right hand, taking it off to change gears of the manual car.
Schooner approached an intersection at “great speed”, changing direction and crashing into a van, shunting it onto the curb and causing significant damage.
His car mounted the footpath and he immediately started the engine and drove off, hitting another vehicle on his way.
When police caught up with him, an alcohol breath test revealed Schooner had 489 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, almost double the legal limit.
Three victims travelling in the cars that Schooner crashed into suffered injuries, with a 73-year-old man hospitalised for 10 days.
Judge Tony Couch told Schooner the elderly man could have died as fluid began to fill his lungs while Schooner drove away from the crash scene.
Schooner began to cry while the judge outlined the injuries to his victims.
A second victim was transported to hospital with a laceration to their head and bruising, while a third suffered swelling and soreness as a result of the impact.
The court heard Schooner told police he drank two cups of coffee in an attempt to sober up before getting behind the wheel.
Judge Couch said Schooner’s decision to restart the car and drive away from the scene without helping showed a “total disregard” for the others involved.
“The damage to the van must have made it obvious to you there was a real likelihood of injury,” the judge said.
Judge Couch said if the elderly man had been left any longer without medical assistance he could have died.
Schooner also faced a charge of common assault arising from June 2 when he barged into a female security guard at a supermarket and struck her in the face with a piece of clothing when she questioned him about stealing.
The judge sentenced Schooner to two years and three months’ imprisonment.
As Schooner was led back into custody, he kissed his partner and baby before telling them he loved them.
Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.
