Drink driver pulled over by public

Members of the public were so concerned by the ‘‘erratic driving’’ of a car in Marlborough, they pulled it over and made the driver hand over her keys.

About 5.25pm on February 19, police received a complaint about the ‘‘erratic driving’’ of Blenheim woman Wendy Anne Stretch, 57, on State Highway 1, Tuamarina.

A short time later they received a second complaint.

Members of the public were so concerned, they followed her and managed to get her to pull over and stop on Blenheim’s Thomsons Ford Rd, where they removed the keys from her car.

Police arrived a short time later and found Stretch walking south along Thomson’s Ford Rd.

They stopped her and noticed she had consumed alcohol.

They asked her to undergo a breath test, which she refused.

Police required her to accompany them to the Blenheim station for an evidential breath or blood test but Stretch refused and walked off down the road.

She was arrested and taken to the station where a blood test showed she had 250mg of alcohol per litre of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

Stretch pleaded guilty to driving with excess blood alcohol and refusing to accompany an officer when she appeared at the Blenheim District Court yesterday.

Her lawyer Nick Mckessa said she had sought help for her alcohol issues and had been ‘‘trouble free’’ for the past eight years.

Judge Tony Zohrab said it was ‘‘a hell of a reading’’.

‘‘That’s a really high level, one of the highest that I’ve seen.’’

Stretch was disqualified from driving for 28 days. She would then be required to install an alcohol interlock device on her car and be subject to a three-year zero alcohol licence. She was also sentenced to 80 hours’ community work.