Dunedin driver crashes in a paddock, heads to pub

Photo / 123rf

An “ultimatum” to be home by 10am came before a high-speed crash and a blood-soaked drinking session at the pub for a Dunedin man.

As he drove the 221km between Wanaka and Waimumu, Steven Bond (46) exchanged several calls and messages with his partner with whom he was arguing, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.

Running late, about 10am Bond found himself flying down a steep bank through a wire sheep fence off Ettrick-Raes Junction Rd, crash-landing in a farmer’s paddock.

As the utility vehicle rolled, Bond’s work tools spilled out into the paddock and were later found by police scattered around the vehicle.

At 1.30pm, emergency services received word of a man walking along the highway covered in blood.

Bond was later located consuming alcohol at the Beaumont Tavern.

The truck was significantly damaged, the court heard.

Upon first being questioned about his role in the crash, Bond was “unco-operative” and even lied to police, claiming he had picked up a hitch-hiker who was behind the wheel at the time of the accident.

It took 19 days for the defendant’s conscience to get the better of him, turning up to the Gore police station to confess to his lapse in concentration.

A serious crash investigator established that at the time of the accident, Bond’s vehicle was travelling at up to 121kmh.

He had been taking a right-hand corner with an advisory sign of 75kmh when he became “distracted by looking at his radio screen and lost control of the vehicle”.

After pleading guilty to one charge of careless driving, Bond was convicted and ordered to pay $617 reparation to the farmer whose fence he destroyed.

In September, Bond was sentenced to six months’ home detention for repeated breaches of a protection order against his ex-partner.

The court heard the crimes were mostly fuelled by alcohol.