‘Sense of entitlement’: Man who jet-boated during Covid 19 lockdown fined $500

A Lake Hawea man has been fined $500 for going jet-boating close to Makarora throughout final yr’s Covid-19 lockdown.

Ben Declifford, 22, a plumber, sought a discharge with out conviction when he appeared earlier than Decide Michael Turner within the Queenstown District Court docket on Monday afternoon.

He had already admitted a cost of deliberately failing to adjust to a Covid-19 public well being response by attending a gathering in an outside place in alert degree 4.

On August 20, solely three days into the lockdown, he and 6 others drove in two autos, every towing a jet-boat, greater than 40km to a ship ramp close to Makarora.

They launched the boats and travelled about 40km upriver to Kerin Forks earlier than returning to the ramp.

Their actions had been noticed by Makarora residents, and police had been ready for them once they returned to the ramp.

The seven had fashioned a bubble simply earlier than the lockdown got here into impact.

Declifford’s counsel, Alice Milne, mentioned the gravity of the offending was low, as proven by police granting diversion to 5 of the opposite males.

The defendant had arrange his personal enterprise, and a conviction would trigger him issue when making use of for skilled registration.

It might additionally doubtlessly value him clients due to harm to his repute within the small group by which he lived.

He had written a letter of apology to the courtroom, and had made a donation to Land Search and Rescue.

Decide Turner disagreed, saying the gravity of the offending was not on the low finish of the dimensions when seen within the context of the worst world pandemic for a century.

The Authorities had taken “drastic steps” to save lots of lives by stopping the unfold of the virus, and the foundations of the lockdown had been broadly publicised.

“You made a deliberate choice to flaunt the foundations.

“There was planning and premeditation; the choice was made to go fishing or looking.”

The river was distant and recognized for hazards that might trigger accidents and require a multi-agency emergency response.

His actions confirmed a “disregard for the regulation, the protection of your group and exhibit a way of entitlement”.

He famous 5 of the boys had been granted diversion as a result of they’d no felony historical past, however a sixth had acquired a group work sentence due to earlier convictions.

Declifford had a conviction for drink-driving in 2020.

He didn’t settle for a conviction would value the defendant potential clients any greater than his earlier conviction had.

Additional, the defendant had not offered info on how a conviction would have an effect on his skill to realize skilled registration.

Like different penalties he had put ahead as prone to comply with from a conviction, similar to limiting his skill to journey abroad and jeopardising his future employment prospects, they had been “speculative, or at finest, minimal”.

He dismissed the appliance for a discharge, and mentioned a conviction was essential to carry him to account and function a deterrent to others.