A New Zealand judge gave a lawyer a sweat-inducing deadline of under an hour to attend a hearing, or be held in contempt of court.

Lawyer Olinda Woodroffe had a hearing scheduled before Judge McNaughton. She asked the judge if she could postpone the case due to a clash with another matter. The judge refused to allow any delay and insisted that the lawyer appear in court.

When Woodroffe failed to appear on the day of the hearing, the judge requested court staff send the lawyer an email in order to light a fire under her arse*. At 4.05pm Woodroffe received the court's email ordering that she get to the hearing "by 5pm" or be held "in contempt of court". Facing the prospect of jail or a fine, Woodroffe decided it was best to get in the car and step on it.

With only two minutes to go, she ran over the arts student

Despite the lawyer getting held up in traffic en route to Manukau District Court she managed to get to court in the nick of time. It is not known whether she will be facing any speeding fines.

* Not the exact words by the judge