Youth coach fled police with children in car; blames meth psychosis

A former school board trustee and youth rugby league volunteer has blamed drug-induced psychosis for a wild police chase while three children were trapped as passengers in his car.

Wai O Taiki Bay resident Daniel Raymond Davies, 41, caught the attention of police in February as he drove towards a roundabout in Pt England, East Auckland at speed after dark with his lights off.

After officers flashed their high beams at him, he turned on his headlights but continued to attract police attention as he accelerated to more than 100km/h in a 50km/h zone, court documents state. He then turned his headlights off again and continued to speed down Tripoli Rd when officers activated their flashing lights and siren.

Police caught up to him but when he still wouldn’t stop, a helicopter unit was called in to take over the pursuit. He ran through two red lights and continued on at unsafe speeds – swerving between lanes, overtaking other vehicles and even persisting on deflated tyres after road spikes were tossed across his pathway at two different locations.

At Manukau Station Rd, he drove into the oncoming traffic lane for about 750m, police estimated. Another motorist had to take evasive action to avoid a head-on crash, documents state.

The chase ended about 30 to 40 minutes after it started, when Davies entered the Southern Motorway and crashed into the centre divider.

At that point, he had only been driving at an estimated 20 to 30km/h on the motorway due to significant tyre and rim damage.

Police boxed in his SsangYong vehicle and arrested him.

He was charged with evading police, which is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, and driving dangerously, which carries a three-month maximum sentence.

But the charges were made significantly more serious by the decision to add an ill-treatment of a child charge, punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

“Throughout the incident, the three complainants ... were passengers in the vehicle and entirely dependent on Mr Davies for their safety,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states.

“Mr Davies’ prolonged fleeing behaviour – including excessive speeds, running red lights, near misses with the public, driving on the wrong side of the road and continuing to evade police despite repeated opportunities to stop – knowingly exposed the children to a real and substantial risk of serious injury or death.”

He showed “complete disregard” for the passengers, the document concluded.

At Davies’ sentencing hearing last week in Auckland District Court, defence lawyer Richard Wood acknowledged his client has a significant methamphetamine and cannabis problem.

“He admits he was under the influence of drugs and having a psychotic experience,” Wood said, explaining that in Davies’ psychosis he thought the evasion was necessary to protect his passengers.

“He recognises he’s going to lose his licence.”

The defence asked for a non-custodial sentence. Judge Belinda Sellars noted that if his methamphetamine addiction was strong enough to have caused psychosis, he was probably in need of residential drug treatment.

Wood, however, asked that residential treatment not be required because of the upheaval it would cause his family.

“Has he taken any steps himself to address his issues?” the judge asked, to which Wood answered in the negative.

“And why not?” she followed up.

“I think he’s fearful,” Wood replied.

Wood submitted to the judge character references that attested to Davies being “community-minded” and a “very loving, supportive father”. He is taking steps to start his own landscaping business, the lawyer noted.

The defendant has assisted with coaching youth rugby league in Ellerslie, even after charges were filed. His lawyer indicated he spent a short period as a school trustee, but he is not publicly listed on any boards currently.

Before determining Davies’ sentence, the judge sought advice from probation regarding his request to avoid residential drug rehabilitation. An in-court representative agreed with the defence that residential treatment “might be a step too far” given his family situation, but he noted there would still be “a fair amount of room to encourage him to attend particular programmes”.

Auckland District Court Judge Belinda Sellars.

“This is an incident that’s extraordinarily concerning,” the judge said, later telling Davies directly: “We obviously don’t want anything of this sort to ever happen again.

“You have to address the issues you’ve got, and you have to do it in a realistic way.”

Crown prosecutor Liesel Seybold sought six months of community detention followed by a year and a half of community supervision.

She also argued against a request by the defence to push the standard 7pm curfew out to 9pm so Davies could take full advantage of daylight saving with his business.

There needed to be a punitive aspect to the sentencing, the prosecutor said.

The judge agreed, adopting the Crown’s community detention and supervision suggestions. She allowed an 8pm curfew and noted that probation was well-placed to decide the intensity of his drug treatment and other programmes that might be helpful.

Judge Sellars also ordered that he be disqualified from driving for a year.

She noted that Davies had no criminal history and appeared to be “extremely remorseful”.

“What strikes me ... is this is completely at odds with the dedication you show to your family,” she noted.

The judge declined the Herald’s application to photograph Davies in the dock.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.