Drink-driver no ‘hellraiser’ lawyer says

A man in his 60s caught drink driving for the ninth time was no ‘‘hellraiser’’, a court has heard.

In fact, Allan Barney James was a sickness beneficiary with bad hips who previously won a battle with the bottle, his lawyer told the New Plymouth District Court.

Duty lawyer Nathan Bourke said while it was accepted James had eight previous drink drive convictions, there had been a 15 year gap since his last court appearance.

The defendant’s oldest conviction was about 40 years ago, he said.

Detective Sergeant Dave MacKenzie said on July 16 about 8.20pm, James was stopped on McLean St in Waitara after he was seen leaving a bar and getting into his car to drive away.

After being pulled over by police, the defendant was breath tested and returned a result of 717 mcgs. The legal driving limit is 250mcgs.

MacKenzie said when spoken to by an officer, James said he had consumed about five or six beers at the bar.

At Thursday’s hearing, James pleaded guilty to an aggravated form of driving with excess breath alcohol, due to his number of previous convictions.

Bourke said James had issues with alcohol in the past - misuse which had been at the heart of his previous offending - but he had since got help.

‘‘He fought that and won that battle,’’ he said.

On the night of the offending, Bourke said after a few social drinks, the 64-year-old tried to call a taxi but none were available and because of problems with his hips, he could not walk home.

So he decided to take the risk and drive home instead, Bourke said. However, there was no poor driving involved and he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

‘‘He’s not a hellraiser on Devon St on a Saturday night.’’

Judge Chris Sygrove accepted there had been a significant gap in James’ offending history but believed the defendant had downplayed how much alcohol he had drunk that night because the alcohol reading was close to three times the legal limit

‘‘It must have been quite a few beers,’’ Sygrove said.

The judge convicted James and ordered him to pay a fine of $1500 plus court costs of $130.

James was banned from driving for one year and one day.