Junior Steve Hoap appeared in the Nelson District Court this week for sentencing. Photo: RNZ
A trainee pilot could be facing the end of his career before it has even taken off, after he fell asleep drunk at the wheel of a car, hit a power pole and badly injured his friend.
Junior Steve Hoap appeared in the Nelson District Court this week for sentencing, proudly wearing his aviation academy flight training uniform but knowing he might not be able to do so for much longer.
He was convicted on a charge he had earlier admitted of causing injury while driving with excess blood alcohol after the potentially fatal crash on a narrow, poorly lit Dunedin road early on 7 May last year.
The 29-year-old from Papua New Guinea came to New Zealand with a dream of becoming a pilot, Judge Tony Zohrab said.
He was at a flight training school in Nelson but had been in Dunedin last year as part of his course when he got drunk and, in a "spontaneous lack of judgment", borrowed a friend's car, fell asleep while driving and slammed into a concrete power pole in Brighton Road.
He had "just wanted to get home" and did not think about what he was doing.
He did not have a New Zealand driver's licence but his licence from Papua New Guinea entitled him to drive here, Judge Zohrab noted.
The car rolled down an embankment before stopping on the edge of an estuary. The force of the impact sent Hoap's passenger through the windscreen, causing severe facial injuries, the police summary of facts said.
A passing police car came across the crash moments later and found Hoap unconscious in the driver's seat.
His passenger, who was Hoap's friend and declined to give a victim impact statement, was found bleeding heavily from his face. He was later found to have several broken ribs, a large number of cuts to his head and face and an injured ankle.
"Both you and he were lucky not to have been killed," Judge Zohrab said.
The borrowed red Mazda was written off. The damage would not be covered by insurance because Hoap was intoxicated, the court heard.
An evidential blood sample taken in Dunedin Hospital showed Hoap had 220 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.
The power company sought more than $11,000 in reparation for the replacement of the power pole and loss of power revenue.
Judge Zohrab ordered that Hoap pay half at $25 a week. He sentenced him to six months of community detention and 180 hours of community work.
Hoap was also disqualified from driving for a year.
"Your lawyer has acknowledged on your behalf that a conviction is likely to have a crushing blow on your hopes of becoming a pilot," Judge Zohrab said.
Hoap's lawyer, Kyle Simonsen, in calling for a lesser sentence than prison, said his decision to drive was a "huge error of judgement" and his level of intoxication went some way to explaining how he had made such a grave mistake.
"He will not be able to gain the career he sought.
"He came here to be a pilot and this is a crushing blow to him, and he may now also have difficulty with immigration," Simonsen said.
Hoap was in New Zealand on a student visa.
"Given the level of disadvantage to his career now, additional restrictions in sentencing are not required," Simonsen said.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Malcolm York said Simonsen was "on the money" with his suggestion of a combination of community detention and community work.
From a starting point of 22 months in prison in recognition of the very high alcohol level and injury caused, Judge Zohrab arrived at the sentence by giving credit for Hoap's lack of previous offending, his early guilty plea and steps to address what happened.
"You came here to pursue a career but a gross error of judgment that was totally out of character will have real significance for you."
This story was originally published by the New Zealand Herald.