A Seddon father who left his two young children in the car for an hour while he went to an appointment has been ordered to do a parenting course by a district court judge.
Marlon Christie, 31, labourer, admitted a charge of leaving a child under the age of 14 without supervision when he appeared in the Blenheim District Court yesterday.
Judge Richard Russell said that if Christie completed a parenting course by December, he would be convicted and sentenced only if called upon.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve Frost said Christie drove to an appointment in Blenheim about 1pm on September 9, taking his two children, aged three and four. He left the children in the car and was away for about an hour. A member of the public called the police, and Christie told them he did not think the appointment would last as long as it had.
Defence lawyer Tane Brunt said Christie had an appointment with probation services and no-one else was available to look after the children. He had gone in and out of the office to check on them.
Christie told Judge Russell he "messed up and made a bad judgment" but was doing what he was required to do by probation officers.
Judge Russell said he would prefer to have Christie learn new parenting skills rather than fining him and risking him becoming "lost in the system".Attempted burglaryA Blenheim man who cut himself while trying to break into the Omaka Aerodrome, leaving a trail of blood, admitted a charge of attempted burglary when he appeared in court yesterday.
Seth John Samuels, 28, was granted bail and will reappear for sentencing on November 15.
Mr Frost said Samuels smashed a window while trying to break into a building in Aerodrome Rd on July 20 but cut himself on the glass, leaving blood on the wall below the window. Police tested the blood the next morning.
Samuels told police he had been in Wellington at the time and could not explain how his blood ended up at the scene.
Judge Russell said Samuels had just been released from prison. He called for a pre-sentence report and an alcohol and drug report.Car confiscatedA Blenheim man caught driving with almost twice the legal breath alcohol limit had his car confiscated when he appeared in court yesterday.
Hamish Kent Wilson, 31, admitted driving with excess breath alcohol, driving while forbidden and careless driving, and will be sentenced on November 15.
Mr Frost said Wilson was driving in Grovetown about 7.30pm on September 12, and stopped for food on the way home from a friend's house. He had drunk about 15 beers.
Wilson became distracted and swerved to miss a van, hitting a car parked on a grass verge, Mr Frost said. Both cars were extensively damaged.
Wilson recorded a breath alcohol level of 743 micrograms (legal limit 400mcg) and did not hold a licence.Sentencing delayedThe sentencing of a Blenheim man after a hit-and-run accident was delayed yesterday because of a Probation Office error. Clifford Brent Markland, 55, beneficiary, was to be sentenced on charges of driving dangerously causing injury and failing to stop after an accident involving injury, but the Probation Office had not completed the necessary reports.
The charges were laid after an accident on the Weld Pass on May 16, in which a 37-year-old Christchurch man was seriously injured.
Markland was remanded on bail and will be sentenced on October 27.Girl followedAn Iraqi man who followed a Marlborough Girls' College student to school told the judge yesterday he was not a danger to the community.
Sabah Ali Mahmoud, 38, was sentenced to 80 hours' community work and 12 months' supervision and given a final warning on two charges of following the girl, knowing his conduct would cause her to fear for her safety.
Judge Russell said Mahmoud struck up a conversation with the 15-year-old student on her usual route to school on July 15. He said later she had "taken his heart" and he had dreamed about her.
On another occasion, Mahmoud tried to have a conversation with the girl as she passed his house, and followed her until she got to school.
The next day, Mahmoud drove alongside the girl until she crossed the footbridge over the Taylor River.
Mahmoud's pre-sentence report said he thought the girl was 16, and he did not mean her any harm, Judge Russell said.
"Even if she was 16, there is still more than 20 years' age difference. People are entitled to have their children go to and from school safely," he said.
"There was no excuse, even on cultural grounds."
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