Jesse Grimwood during sentencing in the Blenheim District Court on a list of serious driving charges. Photo / Tracy Neal
A man who was banned indefinitely from driving had aimed his car at his former partner to scare her, but instead smashed into her friend.
Jesse Grimwood’s former partner was in her car and her friend was standing beside it when she was thrown into the air before landing on a grass verge on the other side of the road.
The woman was seriously injured.
Grimwood fled without checking on her, then further down the road, he smashed into a vehicle in his attempt to escape.
Today the court heard it has taken “considerable effort” on the victim’s part to express the significant trauma she had suffered from her life-changing injuries.
The physical pain, permanent scars, emotional stress and nightmares had all been overwhelming, Judge Garry Barkle said in sentencing Grimwood today to two years and nine months in prison in the Blenheim District Court.
“Daily life is now darker and far more difficult than before,” Judge Barkle said on the victim’s behalf.
She was unable to be present in court due to ongoing treatment, a supporter told the court.
Grimwood had earlier admitted wounding with reckless disregard causing grievous bodily harm, failing to stop to ascertain injury or death after a crash, driving while disqualified for a third or subsequent time, careless driving, breach of parole and possession of methamphetamine.
“It was on your part, recklessness in the extreme. It was deplorable what took place - nothing can justify what took place, but I know you now appreciate that,” Judge Barkle said.
The 27-year-old with an extensive criminal history, and what was described as a seriously dysfunctional background - including having been placed in up to 30 different foster homes - was still subject to release conditions from an earlier prison sentence when events unfolded on July 8 this year.
He was sentenced in 2020 to six years in prison on violence, drugs, weapons and driving charges, and was released in January 2024 on standard and special conditions.
Grimwood was disqualified from driving indefinitely in the Christchurch District Court in July 2017, but went on to receive four further convictions for the same offending between April 2019 and July 2020, the police summary of facts showed.
He should not have been driving when on the afternoon of July 8 he smashed into the woman who was standing beside a BMW driven by his former partner, who had their 5-month-old baby in the car.
The police summary of facts said the victim was a passenger in the car that had been travelling east on Dillons Point Rd in Blenheim.
Grimwood was following in his Nissan Altima, and pulled up beside the BMW when it slowed and pulled over to the side of the road.
He began arguing with his former partner who was driving the BMW, and then Grimwood drove off.
The victim then got out of the car and was standing beside it when Grimwood saw her in his rear-view mirror, did a U-turn and drove back towards the BMW.
Judge Barkle said it indicated a level of premeditation, and that nothing could have prepared the victim for what happened, or have allowed her to take action to avoid being hit.
Grimwood drove on the wrong side of the road before driving up over the grass kerb, intending to scare his ex-partner.
Instead, he drove directly at the woman standing beside the car, and hit her with the front of his vehicle.
Police said she “flew” onto the bonnet before being launched into the air and landing on the other side of the road in the grass verge.
She received multiple broken bones, including her pelvis, and was transferred to Christchurch Hospital where she spent six weeks before being transferred to a rehabilitation ward at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim.
Grimwood then fled without stopping to check or help the victim.
Moments later, less than 2km from the scene, Grimwood approached an intersection at the same time as a man driving a Jeep Cherokee.
Grimwood understeered as he turned left and crashed into the Jeep’s driver side.
The crash immobilised Grimwood’s car. He then gathered up items and ran off, but dropped a ziplock bag containing 0.4g of methamphetamine, later found by police.
Defence lawyer, Elizabeth Mahoney, said Grimwood felt a sense of shame and remorse, and had offered to make amends by selling his vehicle to get money for an emotional harm payment, but the offer was declined.
“He’s taken steps to do all he could and to take accountability and apologise,” Mahoney said.
The police sought a firearms prohibition order, which was granted at sentencing.
Judge Barkle noted Grimwood had spent most of his adult life in and out of prison for mostly drugs, driving and dishonesty offending.
He said Grimwood’s addiction problem was linked to an adverse childhood but the aggravating factors of what happened on July 8 could not be overlooked.
“There’s no question this was extremely serious in terms of the injuries caused, and they will be lifelong for her (the victim),” Judge Barkle said.
From an adjusted starting point of four years and four months’ imprisonment, Grimwood was given discounts for his early guilty pleas, trying to make amends, and factors linked to an unstable childhood that was a driver of his offending.
The final sentence of two years and nine months was without parole.
Grimwood was now also on a final warning under Three Strikes legislation, which meant he faced far heftier penalties for any subsequent serious offending.
He was also further disqualified from driving.
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.