Shane Bachop, 30, left his partner in the wreck with a broken leg then discarded drug paraphernalia before spending three hours on the run, the Dunedin District Court was told yesterday.
The defendant was jailed for 15 months, to be served alongside a 19-month term imposed for domestic violence matters last month, but because of the time he has already spent behind bars he will be released imminently.
Bachop was driving in wet conditions in Moray Pl on March 30 last year, when he lost control near the intersection with Princes St.
The borrowed Holden Cruze he was in crashed — "rather spectacularly", Judge David Robinson said — through the frontage of the Dog with Two Tails, coming to rest in the sitting area.
As his partner languished in the passenger seat, Bachop grabbed his belongings and scarpered.
A police dog handler quickly found the defendant’s black bag, containing 60g of cannabis, snaplock bags and electronic scales, in a bush nearby.
Bachop evaded officers for the next three hours, climbing over the roofs of local businesses until he was found atop an apartment block in Dowling St.
Because of his injuries, he was taken to hospital, where a sample of his blood was taken.
It showed he had four times the high-risk level of methamphetamine in his system as well as benzodiazepine and cannabis.
"On any view, you were grossly impaired. You should not have been behind the wheel," the judge said.
Bachop also admitted family violence crimes, which occurred just days before the crash, against a different woman.
The court heard the defendant dragged the victim by the hair around her home, repeatedly striking her and subjecting her to a half-hour "continuous verbal tirade".
Bachop followed it up with a similar assault the following day.
When he was remanded in custody at the Otago Corrections Facility he gave the victim’s bank details to an associate and instructed her to withdraw $800 from her account.
Counsel Sarah Saunderson-Warner said her client had apologised to both victims and bought a car to replace the one he wrote off in the crash.
She said he had suffered deprivation "at the highest level" during childhood, which was accepted by Judge Robinson.
However, he was concerned about Bachop’s attitude towards rehabilitation.
"You don’t appear to have any motivation to engage with programmes or assistance that would be available through Corrections," the judge said.
Without that, the judge warned, Bachop would be back before the court.
The defendant was banned from driving for a year but that was backdated to the date of the incident.
