May 28, 2010

Three years' jail for using van in carpark attack

By Anne Clarkson

An 18-year-old who intentionally ran down three men in a tavern car park was sentenced to three years prison in the Christchurch District Court today.

Defence counsel for Mark Graham Eric Nicholl, Tim Fournier, said Nicholl?s immaturity resulted in his poor judgement, but his ADHD exacerbated his activities, and he enjoyed thrill seeking.

Crown prosecutor Claire Bouchier said the combination of youth and dangerous driving was all too common in Christchurch.

She said Nicholl was also charged with dangerous driving while he was on bail for the three charges of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

His pre-sentence report said he was at a high risk of reoffending, with no motivation to change, she said. He also showed an absolute lack of regard to his community work sentences, and just had not got the message.

Judge Stephen Erber said a fight developed at the Islington Tavern one night in December. Three men left the tavern and Nicholl was heard to say that he was going to run them over.

He went to his van and it into the car park. Some people standing near him fled, but he hit one man as he was getting out of the way, and deliberately ran into another. He then stopped, reversed and ran into the third man.

In the victim impact reports one victim said he had a chip out of a tooth, his face was cut and he had no use of one hand and constant pain through Christmas.

Another man said he didn?t know what had hit him and was not aware of anything until he was told an ambulance was on its way. He had 20 to 30 stitches in the muscle and skin of his arm.

Judge Erber said Nicholl had 14 infringement notices for bad driving or having a vehicle in a bad condition. He had a reckless driving conviction in 2008 and a dangerous driving conviction in 2009.

He said this was very serious offending with no provocation. It involved considerable violence and could have been life threatening. It was premeditated and a weapon, the van, was used.

He said Nicholl had a very bad driving record for his age and as well as sentencing him to three years prison, he disqualified him from driving for three years.

He cancelled his community work sentence and ordered $390 reparation to be paid to two of the victims.