A 21st birthday party ended up a “very expensive” special occasion for a man who thought pulling the charging cable out of a council-owned electric car might flatten its battery.
Jakeb Fothergill was with an associate when he ended up doing a “staggering amount of damage” to not one, but a fleet of electric cars parked outside the Tasman District Council headquarters in Richmond, when he pulled out the charging cables.
The total repair bill reached almost $17,000 when five of the vehicles ended up with damaged wiring, the police said.
Fothergill admitted a charge of intentional damage when he appeared in the Nelson District Court and was ordered to pay $500 reparation to cover the insurance excess.
He was also given a suspended sentence, to come up if called upon if he offended again.
“You need to behave,” Judge Tania Warburton told the 23-year-old chef, who explained his actions were the result of his drinking.
At about 9pm on Saturday, February 14, Fothergill and the associate left a Richmond restaurant where they had been attending a 21st birthday party, and walked through the council car park.
They walked along a line of council-owned electric vehicles, all of which were connected to their charging stations.
They removed the cables from multiple electric vehicles, causing damage to the wiring systems of five of the fleet, the police summary of facts said.
The total value of damage was $16,847.
Fothergill told police he pulled the charging cable out of one car so it would “have a flat battery in the morning”.
Judge Warburton suggested he didn’t make great decisions when drinking and that it had turned out to be a “very expensive occasion” for him.
Fothergill was ordered to pay the reparation at $40 a week.
