Teen convicted for doing ‘doughnuts’ at car event

Another teenager has appeared in court in relation to a massive illegal car event that saw a woman crushed and a police car attacked.

Kieren James Davis, 18, represented himself when he appeared before community magistrate Shaun Cole in the New Plymouth District Court this week.

He pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle causing sustained loss of traction.

On the night of October 23, a boy racer event dubbed ‘Invade Taranaki’ saw more than 200 vehicles gather in Waiwhakaiho, before making its way to other locations around the region.

Police had previously told organisers to cancel the event due to Covid-19 restrictions in Taranaki, and because some attendees had said they planned to travel to the region from alert level 3 areas for the event.

The ‘‘illegal street racing activity’’ went into the early hours of the morning, with police fielding a number of complaints, a police summary of facts said.

Around 1am on October 24, Davis drove his car onto a section of State Highway 3, with a 100kmh speed limit, near Egmont Village.

He did a number of 360-degree spins ‘‘commonly referred to as doughnuts’’, taking up both sides of the road, the summary said.

There were groups of people standing on the dark highway to watch.

Police made inquiries and the following week Davis’ vehicle was located near his workplace. It was impounded for 28 days.

In explanation,

Davis said he was tempted by others who had been doing the same thing.

In court on Wednesday, police prosecutor Steve Hickey asked the community magistrate to consider disqualifying Davis from driving for nine months to ‘‘send a message to others out there’’.

Hickey said such illegal activities were a ‘‘widespread problem throughout the country’’.

‘‘It doesn’t seem to be going away.’’ Cole convicted Davis, disqualified him from driving for eight months, gave him a $300 fine and ordered him to pay $130 in court costs.

Last week, Jayden Stuart Hall, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of sustained loss of traction causing injury in relation to the same event.

Hall, who struck a woman with his car after losing control while performing a ‘‘doughnut’’, sought a discharge without conviction and will reappear in February.