Repeat drink-driver admits causing crash

A recidivist drink-driver has pleaded guilty to causing a twocar crash after polishing off a handful of ‘‘stubbies’’.

Garth Peter Read allegedly finished a day of laying concrete at a Tikorangi farm with about three to five beers and a feed of pizza before he got behind the wheel to head to New Plymouth.

The 36-year-old, who has two previous convictions relating to alcohol or drug impaired driving, was travelling west on State Highway 3 about 5.40pm on June 23 when he lost control of the vehicle near the Big Jims railway overbridge.

According to a police summary of facts, the car veered to the right across the centre line and into the path of an oncoming car before hitting a dirt bank.

Read told police as he came around the right hand bend ‘‘his car didn’t want to go around it’’.

He saw lights coming toward him and tried to correct it by going further to his right. ‘‘Then bang’’, he said.

The impact flung the defendant’s vehicle into the eastern lane where it collided head-on with another car.

Both vehicles required towing and traffic control and road diversions were put in place for about two hours.

As a result of the crash, both cars were written off and both drivers were taken to Taranaki Base Hospital for treatment.

Read broke his ankle in the collision while the other driver tore a tendon in his left shoulder, sustained a bloodied nose and suffered pain in both knees and some ribs.

While being treated at hospital, Read gave an evidential blood test which returned a reading of 200 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 50mg.

On Thursday, Read appeared before Judge Chris Sygrove at New Plymouth District Court where he pleaded guilty to a charge of excess blood alcohol causing injury – third or subsequent.

Defence lawyer Nina Laird requested the matter be referred to restorative justice and sought a pre-sentence report.

Sygrove remanded Read at large to reappear for sentencing on October 19.