Parolee Peter Coulsen sentenced to 17½ months after meth-fuelled crash and vehicle theft

In Nelson, Judge Tony Snell sentenced Peter Coulsen, a 61-year-old with a 44-year criminal record, to 17½ months in prison after a series of offences. The case began with a December crash on the Tasman coastal highway, where Coulsen, under the influence of methamphetamine at 130 ng/ml, lost control while trying to avoid a rabbit. Police later linked him to the theft of a new $42,600 Suzuki Jimny from a Blenheim yard, finding the keys in his bag and the vehicle in Seddon.

Prior to the crash, he had threatened a family member over his mother’s inheritance and warned a retired volunteer that his workshop would be burned. The court noted his parole status and bail as significant aggravating factors, ordered $1,000 in reparations to the vehicle’s owner, and urged him to abandon drugs and criminal activity.