Disqualified driver crashes, blames injured passenger
A disqualified driver is believed to have been under the influence of alcohol when he crashed into a concrete power pole at speed, leaving his teenage passenger with serious head injuries, a New Plymouth court was told.
Divyank Sharma hit the pole on Pohutakawa Pl, Bell Block, with such force it broke through the concrete foundation.
Sharma’s 18-year-old passenger was significantly injured in the July 21 crash, suffering multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung.
He was transferred to Wellington Hospital where he spent time in the Intensive Care Unit in an induced coma.
Last week, Sharma, an Indian national studying at the Bell Block-based Pacific International Hotel Management School (Pihms), pleaded guilty in New Plymouth District Court to a charge of driving while disqualified, driving dangerously causing injury and perverting the course of justice.
Police believe he was under the influence of alcohol and speeding at the time.
In court it was heard that Sharma wasn’t even meant to be driving.
A month prior he had been disqualified for six months after being caught driving with an excess breath alcohol level of 726 micrograms per litre of breath. The adult legal limit is 250mcgs.
And two weeks before the disqualification he had been stopped by police and forbidden to drive as he did not have a New Zealand driver’s licence.
For two days following the crash, Sharma lied to police, telling them it was his passenger – the victim – who had been driving. Sharma eventually went to the New Plymouth police station and came clean.
Defence lawyer Turitea Bolstad said her client did not dispute the summary of facts, which included two police constables noting Sharma smelt of alcohol at the crash scene.
Sharma wanted the opportunity to meet with the victim, who is said to have made positive progress, and apologise, Bolstad said.
Judge Gregory Hikaka described the charges as concerning. He ordered a full presentence report at last Thursday’s hearing and referred the case to restorative justice.
Sharma will return to court for sentencing on December 10.
The crash was the second involving an international student studying at Pihms in less than a year.
On October 14, 2018, Yatharth Vats crashed into 22-year-old Nepalese student Shamuel BK’s vehicle on Devon Rd near Waitara. Both men died at the scene.
Blood taken from Vats’ postmortem found him to be four times over the legal blood alcohol driving limit. He been travelling at a speed between 151-196kmh, in a 100km zone. The 23-year-old was in the process of being prosecuted for drink driving at the time of his death.
Pihms’ chief executive officer Bill McCallum said he did not believe there was a culture of alcohol abuse on campus.
Furthermore, he was ‘‘absolutely satisfied’’ the school communicated the right messages around drinking and driving to its international students.