Girl, 13, drove drunk mum’s car

Instead of driving after drinking, a Taranaki woman made her 13-year-old daughter get behind the wheel, writes Catherine Groenestein.

The girl told police officers her mother had got her to drive on occasions when she was too drunk to do so herself, and had stated she was no good at driving, Hawera District Court heard yesterday.

A police summary of facts said Claire Elizabeth Bertina Barry, 45, appeared clearly intoxicated on the afternoon of October 16 when she arrived at her elder daughter’s Eltham home with her 12 and 13 year old children in the car.

On being asked to turn down her music, she drove off at speed.

Her adult daughters saw the defendant’s vehicle pull back into the driveway. It reversed at speed on an odd angle, nearly hitting a fence, then stopped.

They saw Barry’s 13-year-old daughter get out through the driver’s door while Barry climbed out of the passenger’s side, the summary said.

The defendant told witnesses she had thought it safer for her daughter to drive the car as she was too intoxicated. She asked the people there to take her to another Eltham address where her partner was drinking, but when nobody would take her, she got angry and stormed off.

Her 12 and 13-year-old children ran after her and she handed the 13-year-old the car keys.

The 13-year-old got into the driver’s seat and they drove off.

Barry was appearing for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to aiding driving in a dangerous manner.

Lawyer Rajan Rai said Barry was currently serving a four-anda-half month sentence of home detention imposed in the New Plymouth District Court on August 31. This included a third conviction for driving with excess alcohol.

Judge Chris Sygrove sentenced Barry to 120 hours’ community work and disqualified her for six months, to follow her current disqualification.