Injury led to drink-drive decision

With his step-son losing a lot of blood, Aaron Weller felt he had no option but to bundle him into the car and drive to hospital for urgent treatment.

The problem for Weller was that he had been drinking quantities of alcohol before getting behind the wheel so when police officers pulled him over en-route to Taranaki Base Hospital in September, he blew more than twice the legal driving limit.

The New Plymouth District Court heard how Weller drove his 22-year-old step-son for medical treatment after he put his foot through a pane of glass, resulting in heavy blood loss.

‘‘He didn’t want to see his stepson bleed out before his eyes,’’ Weller’s lawyer Kylie Pascoe told the hearing.

Pascoe sought a reprieve for the 36-year-old regarding the mandatory disqualification which offending like drink driving attracts, citing the special circumstances in the case.

But Sergeant Craig Jones said while the injury to Weller’s stepson was accepted, the defendant had a number of alternatives available to him other than driving, including calling an ambulance to get the ‘‘medical experts to come to him’’.

The summary of facts said Weller was driving on New Plymouth’s Tukapa St, and towards the hospital, about 4.35pm on September 8.

The Mitsubishi truck he was driving was stopped by police after Weller was spotted by officers not wearing a seatbelt and the front windscreen of the vehicle was also smashed.

After talking to Weller, officers suspected he had been drinking so he was breath-tested and found to be more than two times over the legal limit, blowing 552 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal driving limit is 250mcgs.

He admitted to officers he had drunk five beers before getting in the car to head to the hospital.

Yesterday Weller pleaded guilty to a charge of drink driving.

Pascoe said Weller had been at a Glenpark Ave address in New Plymouth on the day of the offending, which is about 2.5 kilometres from David St, where the hospital is located. She said due to the amount of blood involved, Weller was worried about the length of time it would take for an ambulance to travel to and from the address so decided to take action.

Community magistrate Sherida Cooper said the step-son’s injury did not turn out to be as bad as first thought.

She said Weller did have other options in terms of transporting the injured man to hospital but added that the step-son’s own drunkenness may have made it difficult for anyone else to manage him.

Therefore, Cooper decided against imposing a disqualification.

Weller was convicted and fined $650 and ordered to pay court costs of $130.