The 20-year-old later told police, after forcing other drivers off the road while speeding over the Tākaka Hill, he was “late for a funeral”.
In the Nelson District Court on Friday, his lawyer, Ian Miller, conceded it was a “serious piece of bad driving”, but a brief period in custody since then had been a “wake-up call”.
Prosecutor Rebecca Terry said police had “legitimate concerns” about Leigh, who displayed a “blatant disregard for others”.
“It was appalling driving, as was his attitude. He had no concern for other drivers,” she said.
Leigh was sentenced to community detention and supervision and further disqualified from driving on charges of dangerous driving and driving while disqualified on the two separate occasions.
Overtook camper at ‘excessive speed’
By July last year, Leigh had been disqualified from driving for an accumulated period on the five earlier driving offences, three of which were for driving dangerously, plus operating a vehicle recklessly and failing to stop for police.
Late in the afternoon on October 22 last year, he was driving on a remote Golden Bay road in Wharariki, Puponga.
Miller said the road in that area was very narrow, but there was evidence to suggest the vehicle Leigh crashed into “wasn’t on their side of the road” either.
Police said in the summary of facts that there was a large campervan in front of him, which he was tailgating on the winding, narrow metal road.
Leigh overtook the campervan near the crest of a hill at an “excessive speed,” causing his vehicle to slide in the loose metal, police said.
As he overtook the camper, he gave the finger to the tourists.
A few seconds later, he came to a left-hand turn as another campervan approached from the opposite direction.
Police said it was travelling within the conditions and was able to come to a complete stop before Leigh’s speeding vehicle hit it head-on.
Leigh got out of his vehicle, went up to the window of the campervan and shouted at the tourists inside why they were on “his side of the road”.
He got back in his vehicle and carried on, despite his vehicle being a “write-off”, then fled on foot when police caught up with him soon after.
He turned himself in to the police the next day when he admitted he was a disqualified driver, and “none of it would have happened” if he hadn’t been driving.
Terry said it was through luck and not skill that the outcome wasn’t worse.
She said Leigh held a learner’s licence, which had now been cancelled.
Back behind the wheel, more bad driving
However, three months later, he was back behind the wheel.
About 4.30pm on January 27 this year, Leigh was seen driving the Ford Falcon on the Tākaka Valley Highway.
Minutes later, police received the first of three calls from the public worried about the way he was driving.
He was seen overtaking two campervans into oncoming traffic, causing the oncoming vehicles to take evasive action, police said.
He continued on State Highway 60 and travelled up the Tākaka Hill, and “accelerated heavily” as he approached a sharp hairpin bend.
The hairpin bend on the Tākaka Hill, where Fairmont Leigh was seen speeding which forced other drivers off the road. Photo / Tracy Neal
Leigh lost control of the car, fishtailed towards oncoming traffic, which took evasive action before he regained control and carried on.
He later told police he was on his way to a funeral and didn’t want anyone else driving the car.
Miller said the risk presented to others was “high”, because of the potential for someone to have gone off the side of the Tākaka Hill and down its steep slopes.
Judge Ian Carter said in sentencing Leigh that there were “a number of aggravating factors”, not least being that he had offended on two more occasions since he was sentenced last July.
“Both sets occurred when you were already disqualified from driving for similar, earlier offending,” Judge Carter said.
He noted Leigh’s attitude and behaviour had improved since being released from custody, where he had been held on remand.
Judge Carter said in sentencing Leigh to three months’ community detention and 12 months’ supervision, that it would “hopefully right the ship”.
Leigh was convicted and discharged on the fine-only charges of careless driving and disqualified from driving for a further 12 months.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
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