A mother now on her 13th conviction for driving while banned, including while she had children in the car, has been sent to prison after a judge’s patience ran out.
Last week, a tearful Paula Trainor pleaded for clemency, but Judge Jo Rielly, who had previously given the Nelson woman a chance to avoid prison, sentenced her to a term of 18 months.
Trainor was sentenced on two charges of driving while suspended for a third or subsequent time; in the second instance, she had two young children in the car.
On that occasion, she was also charged with careless driving after crashing into a cycle railing and street sign.
“This is your 12th and 13th conviction for driving while suspended which is extremely concerning, including that on the second occasion you were driving badly with two young children in the car,” Judge Rielly said in the Nelson District Court.
The prison sentence took into account Trainor’s part in a burglary which involved breaking into the yard of a power distribution company in Tasman, and cutting sections of cabling for the copper content.
The police summary of facts stated that around 4.15am on December 9, 2024, Trainor and an associate went to the electricity company yard, which held a “significant quantity” of cabling.
Trainor helped cut sections of the cabling and push it through a fence.
They were disrupted by a passing vehicle, but returned about 45 minutes later to stash it, before the associate returned later and retrieved it to be sold for the copper content, the summary said.
Reparation of $720 was sought for Trainor’s half share, Judge Rielly said.
The driving charges followed instances in May and June last year, the second of which police were alerted to after spying her “driving erratically” on a main thoroughfare road in Nelson.
When Trainor saw she was being followed, she accelerated beyond the speed limit and entered a side road where she crashed into the railing and street sign.
Judge Rielly said sentencing was to have gone ahead last December but was adjourned to allow her a better chance.
“I was very concerned about making sure the least restrictive outcome could be imposed so you could continue with rehabilitation, and to continue to care for your children.
“But you found yourself in custody because of further alleged burglary,” Judge Rielly said.
It is alleged that Trainor reoffended while on bail, ahead of her sentencing on driving and burglary matters.
The judge said the court no longer had any option, also because Trainor had been denied bail on the recent charges.
Trainor pleaded with the judge via a patchy video link for an alternative to prison, and claimed she had a suitable address lined up as a place where she might serve home detention instead.
Judge Rielly noted homelessness had been a “significant feature” of her journey through the justice system, and it had taken a real toll on her and those connected to her, particularly her children.
She allowed credit for the likely negative impact of a prison sentence on Trainor’s dependent children to arrive at the endpoint of 18 months, with leave to apply for home detention if an address could be found.
She was also disqualified from driving for a year.
The other matter for which Trainor was charged remains before the court.
