Journalist Duncan Garner admits mistake after conviction for driving while suspended
Media personality Duncan Garner has spoken out after his day in court for driving while suspended, telling his followers he “got it wrong”.
Garner was sentenced yesterday to a six‑month driving ban after pleading guilty at the Auckland District Court.
“I got it wrong, simple as that,” Garner, who hosts the Editor in Chief podcast, said on Facebook last night.
The 52-year-old was charged with driving with a suspended licence in March and appeared in court yesterday, where he admitted the charge, having initially pleaded not guilty.
“I stood in court and was convicted of driving while my licence was still suspended. I accepted responsibility, and I’ve accepted the punishment,” Garner said.
He was disqualified from driving for six months for the offence and was ordered to make a $300 payment to the St John ambulance service.
The sentence is set to begin in September.
‘I was driving, end of story’
The former political editor for television’s ThreeNews and host of The AM Show on radio said he genuinely believed his suspension had ended, but it hadn’t.
“I was 12 days short. The law is the law; I was suspended. I was driving, end of story.”
Garner said he thought the judge was fair, understanding and pragmatic, and the court listened carefully to the circumstances.
“Everyone was professional; there was no drama, no grandstanding; the judge reached a decision; I’ve accepted it, and that was that.”
Garner said the “interesting part” of what has occurred was watching the media’s reaction.
“When the charge first surfaced, some parts of the media seemed fascinated by it, they couldn’t get enough of it really, to be fair.
“Then they discovered what it was actually about and suddenly the interest evaporated,” he claimed.
Yesterday, Garner’s lawyer, Melanie Coxon, told Judge Terence Singh that her client “made a mistake and he apologises greatly for it”, Stuff reported.
Coxon said Garner was a first-time offender and needed to travel from his home in Mangawhai to the city to cover the beginning of election campaign coverage.
Coxon reportedly asked the judge for a delayed sentence, to which Singh agreed.
Police previously told the Herald that a man was before the court for allegedly driving while suspended in central Auckland in March.
“A vehicle sought by police was detected travelling along Symonds St at around 5.21pm on March 10,” Auckland central area response manager Senior Sergeant Shaun Richardson said.
“A police unit located the vehicle on Rutland St and carried out a traffic stop.
“Subsequently, a 51-year-old was summonsed to the Auckland District Court on a charge of driving whilst suspended.
“The man had been suspended from driving for three months in December 2025 for excess demerit points.”
Garner had previously addressed the issue on his podcast: “You may have seen my name floating around on websites and on the news today ... um ... it’s a demerit issue, demerit points and ... um ... it’s in front of the court and they’ll sort it out so, yeah, it’ll sort itself out.”
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