Wellington contractor sentenced for driving with meth in his system, causing crash

The contractor claimed he had smoked meth so he could cope with the long hours he was pulling. Photo / Mike Scott

A contractor who had taken methamphetamine to stay awake while working long hours caused a crash that saw him collide with multiple vehicles and catapulted him through the windscreen.

Patrick John Roil, 51, was fined $1500 and disqualified from driving when he appeared in the Wellington District Court today.

He faced charges of driving a service vehicle with drugs in his system and dangerous driving following the crash, which caused him to suffer a lacerated face and a fractured eye socket.

His sentence was handed down by Judge Tania Warburton, who said consuming methamphetamine to stay awake for work was a “terrible idea”.

“You have to pay the price,” she told him.

The court heard Roil had been contracted to clear a “deluge of slips” in the Wellington region over three days in April this year.

It was around 8.55am when he was driving his truck along Western Hutt Rd in Hutt Valley.

Approaching an intersection, he made no attempt to stop or slow down for traffic stopped at the lights.

Roil crashed into a stationary vehicle, which was pushed into another car.

He then veered into a third vehicle before driving into oncoming traffic and colliding with a post.

Roil was taken to the hospital, where his blood returned a “high risk” reading of methamphetamine.

In court, defence lawyer Phil Mitchell said his client spent five days in hospital following the crash, in which he “essentially fell asleep” at the wheel.

Mitchell said Roil had been working long hours running his own business.

He was understaffed and pushing himself too far and took the drug to stay awake, Mitchell submitted.

It was argued by Mitchell his client wasn’t speeding, racing, or showing off - he had instead made a bad decision during a stressful work period.

He sought that a fine be imposed rather than a sentence of community work.

Mitchell also made oral submissions for permanent name suppression, stating work opportunities for Roil would be impacted if his name were published.

Judge Warburton declined the application for suppression, stating Roil has previous convictions that have not impacted his work to date.

While handing down Roil’s sentence, Judge Warburton acknowledged he had been working long hours at a particularly difficult time in an emergency call-out period.

He was not ordered to pay reparation to the other drivers.

This was not the first time Roil had appeared in court for driving-related offending.

In 2019, he was convicted for using a steam roller to damage boy racers’ cars at a car meet-up.

Hazel Osborne is an Open Justice reporter for NZME and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She joined the Open Justice team at the beginning of 2022, previously working in Whakatāne as a court and crime reporter in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.