Watch: Police car rammed during a pursuit in downtown Auckland. Video / Supplied
A 61-year-old Northland woman accused of ramming a police car in central Auckland then spitting on an officer later in the day after she had been released on bail, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
The woman was arrested on July 7 last year after allegedly drivingaway from Princes Wharf towards an intersection at Hobson St. She then appeared to perform a U-turn, accelerating and driving a 1.3litre Toyota hatchback into a police car.
The crash was caught on video.
Auckland District Court Judge Pippa Sinclair issued her insanity findings last month for six of the seven charges against the woman: assault with is blunt instrument, failing to stop for police, driving in a dangerous manner, assaulting police (manually), willful trespass and injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The defendant returned to court today to plead guilty to the one remaining charge - breaching the terms of her zero-alcohol licence by driving with 12 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
"The amount of intoxication could only be viewed as low," Judge Sinclair said, describing the charge as "closely annexed" to the other ones for which she was found insane.
The judge ordered her licence suspended for three months, as is mandatory under the law, but backdated it to July 2021 due to the circumstances of the situation and the fact the defendant hadn't driven since her arrest.
Defence lawyer Clare Watkins said her client had been a delivery driver prior to the incident.
