Whanganui handyman Glyn Ackroyd has been remanded to reappear for sentencing on three charges of dangerous driving causing injury after Wednesday's hearing was adjourned. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui handyman Glyn Ackroyd has been remanded to reappear for sentencing on three charges of dangerous driving causing injury after Wednesday's hearing was adjourned. Photo / Bevan Conley
A handyman who sped through an intersection and slammed into another vehicle, injuring three people, tried to blame his passenger for causing the crash.
Glyn David Ackroyd, a director of Man Handy Ltd, appeared before Judge Chris Sygrove in the Whanganui District Court on Wednesday for sentencing on three charges of dangerous driving causing injury.
Ackroyd, who had previously pleaded guilty to the charges, however, had to be remanded to reappear for sentencing at a later date.
As Judge Sygrove entered the courtroom he quipped to Ackroyd's defence lawyer Peter Brosnahan he had been thrown a "hospital pass" after only receiving the sentencing submissions that morning.
"I haven't had a chance to consider them, can it be put off until another day?" he asked.
Judge Sygrove explained the charges were serious and he wanted the chance to go over the file in detail before sentencing Ackroyd.
Brosnahan put up a bit of a protest, claiming he had handled the case since the beginning and his client wanted him there but the judge was having none of it.
"I'm not sentencing him today, you can do all of the arm twisting you like," Judge Sygrove said.
A photograph taken at the scene of the crash on December 23, at the intersection Mosston Rd and Hinau St, shows the damage to the front of Glyn Ackroyd's ute, caused by the force of the impact. Photo / Supplied
The police summary of facts states about 7pm on December 23, 2021, Ackroyd and a friend were driving along Hinau St in his Ford Ranger heading towards Castlecliff.
At the same time his victims were travelling south along Mosston Rd. The intersection is controlled by a Give Way sign.
"As both vehicles approached the intersection, the defendant did not attempt to slow down to give way," the police file says.
"The defendant drove through the intersection at speed, colliding with the victim's vehicle."
The impact of the crash caused the victim's vehicle to spin around before landing on its roof, while Ackroyd continued on before stopping in a nearby empty lot.
Ackroyd fled the scene on foot, leaving his injured passenger in his ute.
The passenger and both occupants of the other car had to be taken to hospital.
Ackroyd's passenger received bruising to his body and was discharged the next day while the driver of the other vehicle suffered a concussion and cuts to his arms and hands from broken glass and remained in hospital for two days.
The passenger in the car, the driver's brother, sustained serious injuries including collapsed lungs, fractures to his spine and pelvis, a ruptured hemidiaphragm, and a displaced spleen and stomach in his left chest wall.
He required urgent surgery to repair the injured organs and was admitted to the Critical Care Unit at Whanganui Hospital before being transferred to ICU in Wellington for observation.
Five days later he was returned to Whanganui Hospital for rehabilitation and was eventually discharged on January 17, 2022.
He had to use a wheelchair until he was able to put weight on his legs.
Police located Ackroyd walking down Mosston Rd.
He initially denied being the driver, telling police his friend had jumped in the driver's set and drove off through the intersection before claiming he couldn't remember who was driving.
Judge Sygrove remanded Ackroyd on bail to reappear in October for sentencing, and at Brosnahan's insistence instructed the court to make the case a priority.
