No consequence for driving when suspended

The Herald reports:

Glyn David Ackroyd appeared before Judge Dugald Matheson in the Whanganui District Court on February 14 charged with driving while disqualified.

Ackroyd, who first appeared in court on the charge in December 2022, pleaded guilty to the offending and was subsequently convicted and discharged by Matheson.

This seems to add to the idea of impunity for offenders.

Ackroyd was disqualified from driving for 13 months after he not only sped through an intersection and slammed into a car, seriously injuring two men, but fled the scene, left behind an injured passenger, tried to blame them for the crash, and didn’t check on the victims in the car he hit. One of the victims has spinal fractures and a broken jaw.

Two months after he gets disqualified from driving, he is caught driving again, and the Judge gives him a free pass by way of a discharge.

Think how the victims feel.