Before fleeing the scene, the winger drove the Subaru Legacy into the garage.
After being asked to leave someone’s property, All Blacks winger Sevu Reece rammed their car into their garage while intoxicated, avoiding a conviction for wilful damage.
A judge sentenced the Crusaders player, who has 32 New Zealand caps, to pay more than $2,000 (£930) in reparations and emotional harm when he appeared in Christchurch District Court on Tuesday.
His name suppression ended after the sentencing. The “off-field incident” prompted a New Zealand Rugby spokeswoman to say that they were going through a “employment process” with Reece.
“The specifics and outcomes of the employment process will remain confidential,” they continued. We are pleased that Sevu has demonstrated accountability, accepted full responsibility for his conduct during the previous 12 months, and changed his lifestyle in several constructive ways. We also acknowledge that the courts have addressed the issue.
According to court records, Reece, 27, was at the victim’s house on November 15 of last year at around 1.20 am. It was said that he was “disrespectful to other house guests” and was asked to leave.
The victim’s Subaru Legacy was parked in the driveway when he walked inside. When Reece got into the automobile, he told the cops it was running.
Before fleeing the scene on foot, he sped up the driveway and collided with the victim’s garage, causing “substantial damage” to both the garage and the car.
Following the incident on November 15, 2023, Reece was charged with taking an automobile “dishonestly and without claim” but not in a way that amounted to larceny, as well as purposefully causing damage to the car owner’s garage door. Later, the accusation was dropped to one count of wilful damage, which Reece acknowledged.
Outside of court, Reece apologised to the victim and conveyed his sincere regret for what he had done. “This has also had a lot of positive effects. I’m working on a lot of other projects as well. He remarked, “I’m just so very sorry to the fans and the family.”
He disclosed that he was thinking more clearly and had been sober for more than a year. “This is a good story in that people could learn from the things from some of my actions,” he continued, adding that he saw no reason to hide behind name suppression. Removing name suppression and confronting it was a brilliant approach, in my opinion.
Additionally, he stated that he takes his duty as a role model very seriously and expressed regret for disappointing those who look up to him.
“I think I’ve failed them. I am admired by them. Moving forward is the only way I can make things right from here,” he continued.
Jade Lancaster, a police prosecutor, described the encounter as “low-level offending” but said that any possible repercussions for Reece were “speculative.” She brought up Reece’s 2018 incident of hitting his girlfriend, for which he was released without being found guilty.
“This is a case he’s already had the consequences of his intoxicated behaviour made clear to him in the past and committed more offending while intoxicated,” Lancaster stated. “The court’s continued granting of releases without conviction is not in the public interest. A conviction is justified.
Liz Bulger, Reece’s attorney, stated that a possible New Zealand Rugby sanction was still “hanging over his head”.
“There could be a significant penalty for him,” she added. “There are consequences which New Zealand Rugby are able to impose… he doesn’t really have any idea what that could look like.”
Reece had been trying hard to “turn those things around” by going to AA meetings. Reece was characterised by the judge as “genuinely remorseful” and “unlikely to reoffend.” He had previously donated to Ronald McDonald House and KidsCan.
The offence was classified as being in the “low category” by the judge, and Reece was released without being found guilty.
