Dad’s remorse for using son, 10, as his sober driver

A Taranaki father has made a vow to his family to quit drinking after being caught with his 10-year-old son sober driving him.

Police came across the defendant’s vehicle parked outside a New Plymouth pub about 12.05am on Sunday, June 3.

Officers were interested in the car after seeing it pull up and park at an angle in a parallel bay, and partially block the lane.

When they approached the car, parked on Devon St East, police found a 10-year-old boy at the wheel.

A 33-year-old was in the passenger seat and showed signs of intoxication. It was revealed he was the youngster’s father. The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of his son, told police the boy had driven from an address in Spotswood to the city bar – an approximate 4.5 kilometre journey.

According to the summary of facts, the defendant told police he had his son driving as ‘‘he was the sober driver and had driven for him on numerous occasions.’’

Yesterday, the man appeared before Judge Phillipa Cunningham in the New Plymouth District Court for sentencing on a single charge of ill treatment/neglect of a person aged under 18 years.

Defence lawyer Jo Woodcock argued for a sentence of supervision and community work.

She said her client was genuinely remorseful and had felt very deeply the consequences of his offending.

He had not seen his child since the arrest and that had been the greatest consequence of all, she said.

‘‘There’s been a great deal of stress and shame.

‘‘He’s had many sleepless nights over this issue and there’s quite a lot of deep thinking on his behalf.’’

As a result, the man had recently accepted he has a form of alcoholism and had made a promise to his family that he would quit drinking.

Woodcock said he was now in full-time work, and was in a new relationship which was both healthy and stable.

Judge Cunningham said the man’s actions were a gross breach of trust between a parent and their child. She said the offence caused potential harm to the man, his son, and other road users.

‘‘It’s a terrible lesson for a parent to give a child, that they are able to drive a car at the age of 10.

‘‘And on public roads, and at night in particular.’’

The man had previously appeared in court on a variety of charges, including drink-driving and assault on a child.

Judge Cunningham said alcohol had been the root of his offending. However, ‘‘something good’’ had come from his latest appearance, she said. ‘‘You’ve found your drinking to be problematic.’’

Cunningham adopted a sentence starting point of 18 months’ jail but gave the man discounts for an early guilty plea and his show of remorse. She acknowledged both police and Woodcock considered supervision and community work to be a sufficient sentence. As a result, he was handed down 12 months’ intensive supervision, 100 hours’ community work, disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to attend parenting and alcohol-related programmes.

‘‘It’s a terrible lesson for a parent to give a child.’’ Judge Phillipa Cunningham