Cricket coach caught drink-driving escapes conviction
A national cricket coach has dodged a conviction for drink-driving despite being caught nearly four times over the limit.
UK-born Adam James Miles, 30, told the Dunedin District Court on Friday that a black mark on his criminal record might limit his future sporting goals, restrict his ability to study and inhibit his bid for residency here.
The New Zealand under-19s assistant coach had only been back in the country a matter of days after the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa where his team made the semifinals, the court heard.
Three months earlier, Miles’ career faced potential ruin.
Miles was stopped at a police checkpoint after attending a work function followed by drinks at a craft beer festival.
He claimed he had drunk four pints and had only opted to drive home because he had to collect his girlfriend from the airport the next day.
A breath test gave a level of 918mcg — the legal limit is 250mcg.
“You posed a significant danger to yourself and any other people who happened to be using the road at the time,” Community Magistrate Simon Heale said.
Defence counsel Nathan Laws said his client’s main concern was the potential effect a conviction would have on his future career prospects.
A conviction, the court heard, had the potential to make travel to North America for professional development difficult, and to prevent the defendant from transiting through other countries during cricket trips.
The defendant had also applied to study a postgraduate diploma in psychology and a conviction would not only jeopardise entry to that course, but it may bar Miles’ registration as a psychologist.
The defendant also had worries his application for permanent residency could be in peril.
The court heard Miles was getting married next month and had bought a house in Dunedin. Heale referred to affidavits from University of Otago Professor Kenneth Hodge, New Zealand Cricket’s Pete Sanford and Otago Cricket chief executive Mike Coggan, all of whom spoke of the man in glowing terms.
Police opposed Miles’ discharge without conviction, arguing the consequences he may suffer were “speculative”.
But Heale rejected that. He granted the application on condition Miles provided proof of a $1500 donation to charity and disqualified him from driving for six months.