Dunedin District Court
A DRUNKEN drive home from a birthday party has resulted in two men being convicted of drinkdriving.
David John Port (50) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday where he admitted the charge.
The court heard he had only driven 5km of the way home from his own 50th birthday party in Port Chalmers.
Duty lawyer Nathan Laws said the defendant had realised he was driving poorly, so he pulled over and his cousin got behind the wheel.
The problem was, the new driver was also drunk.
Members of the public, concerned about the manner of driving, called police and the men were stopped on Anzac Ave at 1.30am on April 22.
Port admitted to officers he too had been driving and both men were breathalysed and charged.
Mr Laws said the defendant’s cousin had been convicted.
Port had a breathalcohol level of 664mcg.
He was convicted yesterday and fined $670, along with court costs of $130.
Judge Kevin Phillips banned him from driving for seven months.
Other convictions
A David Evan Mead (37), of Christchurch, using a document for a pecuniary advantage (victim lost her bank card near Manchester St, Christchurch, Mead used the card in nine different stores, spent $589, used the pay wave function, card was cancelled, bank cleared the victim’s debt, Mead said he found the card and had no explanation for the spending spree; Judge Kevin Phillips said the offending was ‘‘cunning’’ as Mead kept his purchases under $80 to avoid entering a pin number), September 1718, three months’ imprisonment (concurrent with a sentence of two years two months he is serving for similar offending).
A Braden Trevor Diehl (18), labourer, of Dunedin, breach of community work (sentenced in June over driving offences, failed to report to Probation; defence counsel Brian Kilkelly said the defendant often slept in and struggled to get transport to the community work centre), November 24; breach of community detention (sentenced to six months, left address during curfew period; Mr Kilkelly said Diehl presented as ‘‘somewhat lost’’ but had recently enrolled in a highcountry farming course, he found four days in custody sobering), November 2426, 320 hours’ community work, six months’ supervision.
A Sally Roseanne Whiting (50), retailer, of Waikouaiti, assault (asked partner to pick her up after drinking in Dunedin, when he arrived she refused to leave with him, Whiting’s daughter coaxed her into the car, on the journey she punched the man as he was driving at 100kmh, he tried to fend her off, the defendant bit his left hand; defence counsel Jo Turner said Whiting had been medicated for her alcohol problem, she had moved from Nelson in 2015 and struggled with isolation from friends and family, she had little or no memory of the incident), March 18, deferred sentence six months.
A Jeffrey John Patton (39), cook, of Dunedin, breach of community work (sentenced to 75 hours in October for breaching a protection order, failed to inform Probation of a new residential address), March 13; breach of community work (failed to complete the sentence in the prescribed timeframe; the court heard the sentence had since been completed), April 18; convicted and discharged.