While she was required to stop, she drove through and hit the driver s side of another vehicle. The other vehicle spun a few times before stopping on a grass verge. Field’s car mounted a traffic island and took out a stop sign. The driver of the other vehicle needed time off work after injuring the C7 vertebra in their neck, and constantly suffered headaches by 4pm each day. They also suffered constant pain in their left shoulder and arm, requiring physiotherapy. Field told police she’d stopped at the intersection and looked both ways before continuing, after seeing no traffic.
The driver of the other car suffered significant injures which have left him off work, while Patangata broke his femur, had severe head injuries and required a knee reconstruction. Tests in hospital found Patangata had methamphetamine, ketamine and THC – the psychoactive chemical in cannabis – in his system. The crash happened while Patangata was on intensive supervision for male assaults female, after he strangled his partner in August 2018. During sentencing for that crime in November 2019, he said he would try to clean up his act. Defence lawyer Fergus Steedman said on Monday Patangata was making moves in the right direction. His life for the past 20 years involved going to jail, being released, starting a relationship, more often than not getting his new partner pregnant – he has seven children to six women – then going back behind bars, Steedman said.
He ran three companies – Riverbend Organics, Gorge Fresh Organics and Sproull Farms, all based in Aokautere – at the time of the offending. WorkSafe inspector Simon Kuiti tried to organise a time for a compliance assessment in November 2018 but Sproull wanted proof Kuiti had authority to do so. Sproull did not accept a WorkSafe ID card as proof and, after other attempts to visit, was given documents from WorkSafe. Kuiti organised to visit on May 24, 2019, but Sproull was not there and a vehicle blocked access to a milk shed Kuiti wanted to inspect. Sproull also failed to make a statement about his absence to WorkSafe officers.