Man claims ‘beliefs’ led him to refuse breath alcohol tests
A man who refused a series of alcohol screening tests has claimed the tests went against his beliefs.
Izaac Abel Michael Burrough, 36, was stopped by police on Rocks Rd shortly before midnight on December 14.
After failing a passive breath test, he was required to do a breath screening test, and then an evidential breath test, a police summary of facts said.
However, despite many attempts he failed to complete these tests, and then refused a blood test.
He was charged with refusing to give blood, which he pleaded guilty to on Wednesday at the Nelson District Court.
Defence lawyer Grant Fletcher said Burrough had recently moved from Christchurch to Nelson to continue his “thriving” interior decoration business.
He’d had some drinks with his friends, then gone to get something to eat, a decision he now regretted, Fletcher said.
“His own beliefs led him to resist the breath test,” the lawyer said. “He felt they were important in this situation.” It was not explained what those beliefs were.
While Burrough had a history of similar convictions, the most recent was in 2016, Fletcher said.
Since then, he’d “grown up”, and become more responsible as he stepped up to running a business and having a family, he said.
Judge Jo Rielly said refusing to give blood was a “concerning charge, in the hierarchy of charges for drink-driving”.
“Your conduct with police when they attempted to breath-test you was far from ideal.”
Burrough had three previous drinkdriving-related convictions. However, two were before the age of 20 which meant he could not be charged with a third-orsubsequent offence, the judge said.
However, Burrough’s history illustrated a long track record of getting behind the wheel after drinking, the judge said.
Judge Rielly sentenced Burrough to 200 hours of community work, and disqualified him from driving for eight months.