Driver who crashed into house says he was slipped drugs

Photo / File

A Greymouth man who crashed a stolen car into a West Coast house told police he couldn't remember the incident and must have been slipped drugs at a party.

Carl James Schroder, 19, appeared in the Greymouth District Court for sentencing yesterday on charges of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, driving at a dangerous speed and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

He was sentenced to 200 hours' community work, disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay the Housing Corporation $4027 and an insurance company $6500.

After a New Year's Eve party he took a woman's car without permission and went for a 20-minute drive, skidding in gravel and speeding at nearly 110km/h in a 50km/h zone near North Beach.

He missed a turn in a residential area, became airborne and crashed into the Cobden house, where a child had been sleeping just metres away.

Schroder ran from the scene, leaving an injured man in the passenger seat, but three days later he handed himself into police, saying he must have been the one responsible but could not remember the incident.

Lawyer Eymard Bradley said Schroder claimed he had not been drinking at the party and he suspected he had been given drugs without his knowledge.

He was remorseful and wanted to make amends for his actions. The woman's car was written off but police did not seek reparation because her insurance company had paid out.

Judge Gary MacAskill said it was not the insurance company's fault that Schroder took and crashed the car, so he could pay it back.