He set fire to a Mitsubishi Pajero containing gas canisters, which started exploding, and then turned his attention to a Mazda 3, the summary said. He was seen setting that car on fire, before smashing the windows of a tractor, and getting in his house bus to leave. A member of the public tried to stop him leaving, but he refused and drove along Queen Charlotte Drive, stopping at The Wedge where the fire crew saw him walking up to the Hyundai. After the fire truck went past, he walked up to the car, smashed the driver s side window and then set fire to it. He then drove away in his house bus towards Picton.
The summary said Etheridge rushed straight over to see if the victim was OK. Etheridge appeared in the Blenheim District Court for sentencing on Monday for one charge of careless use of a motor vehicle causing injury.
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Judge Tony Zohrab said Etheridge’s driving “fell well below” what was required of her. (File photo) Her lawyer Josh Smith said the incident was “purely just an accident”. “There was no alcohol involved, speed wasn’t a factor,” Smith said. “She’s remorseful. I would like to point out that as soon as it did happen she came to the immediate help of the victim.”
Lambert pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent assault at the Blenheim District Court in October.
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Lambert was sentenced in the Blenheim District Court on Monday. He was convicted and issued a first strike warning, which meant repeat offenders of serious sexual or violent crimes would face harsher penalties for second and third offences. At his sentencing on Monday, Judge Tony Zohrab said Lambert was “grossly affected” by alcohol at the time of the incident. Through the restorative justice process Lambert had accepted responsibility. The court heard he had also been supported by his grandmother since the offending.