'Defies belief': Judge dumbfounded by maniacal driver

The defendant made no attempt to slow down or check the welfare of the animals. Photo / 213rf

A maniacal driver who left a trail of destruction in his wake, including two dead sheep, has left a judge dumbfounded.

Jesse Andrew Moore, 20, of Roxburgh, appeared in the Alexandra District Court this morning where he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

Judge Dominic Flatley said the offending "defies belief".

In the early hours of December 21, the court heard, the defendant was driving home from Beaumont with a mate.

Moore drove erratically, swinging around corners and "making sharp turning manoeuvres", prosecutor Sergeant Ian Collin said.

When they arrived at the power station, the driver deliberately reversed into a gate, causing considerable damage.

Then Moore upped the ante.

He drove onto the Clutha Gold Trail, a route not designed for vehicles.

Moore mowed down several sheep, two of which died.

Collin said the defendant made no attempt to slow down or check the welfare of the animals.

Next he slammed into a wheelie bin, shunted a van into a wood shed and continued the wild ride.

Moore mounted grass verges, destroyed a fruit stall and hit another bin at such speed that it disintegrated and the bottles inside smashed all over the road.

The defendant later handed himself in to police and said he was "very very sorry".

Collin said the farmer whose sheep were killed was not seeking reparation, but the prosecutor suggested a restorative-justice meeting might be useful.

Judge Flatley agreed.

"You have to start thinking long and hard how you're going to explain to these people why you did what you did," he said.

"I don't understand it. I don't know what you've been watching on TV."

Moore will be sentenced next month.