THE P EPIDEMIC: TAKING A FAST TRACK TO PRISON

The drug P has rapidly acquired notoriety as one of the most dangerous
influences on our community. In a new feature the Herald will run regular
news reports about the drug and its effects.

Today: the link between P and a high-speed car chase.

A 25-year-old man who led police on a high-speed chase through Auckland
streets in a stolen car after using pure methamphetamine or P was sentenced
to jail yesterday.

Judge Cecilie Rushton told Nicholas Paul Starr in the Auckland District
Court that people responsible for high-speed chases could "confidently
expect to go to jail".

She said it was extremely fortunate no one was killed or injured.

Starr had been released from prison, where he had served a 12-month term,
about a month before his offending in July. He had been in prison for nearly
identical offences.

Judge Rushton said the sole mitigating factor was his guilty pleas to
charges that included unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, failing to stop,
driving while disqualified, possession of methamphetamine and possession of
snaplock bags containing methamphetamine. One bag contained P.

Starr also faced a charge of breaching a condition of his parole after being
released from prison.

For Starr, Colin Amery said he did not think he could argue against
imprisonment. He had come to the conclusion that Starr was a person with
potential but who was going absolutely nowhere. He wanted to return to the
island of his birth, Niue.

Mr Amery said Starr's father died early, with the result that he had never
had the benefit of "a male controlling figure".

Judge Rushton said: "He should have grown up by now."

If he kept offending, he would spend many years in jail.

The judge sentenced him to a total of 15 months' imprisonment and
disqualified him from driving for a year.

Judge Rushton ordered him to undergo drug rehabilitation and granted him
leave to apply for home detention, adding that his chances were minimal.