Drivers try to justify behaviour

There may be no excuse for being caught drunk behind the wheel, but that did not stop many people from trying at Nelson District Court yesterday.

Court staff were kept busy with cases involving drivers with excess blood alcohol levels, many of them occurring over the Christmas and New Year period.

Jason Roy Connolly, 38, from Atawhai, was one of those appearing on a charge of driving with excess blood alcohol.

He was stopped at 5.28am on December 27 at a random breath testing sta- tion on Dodds Valley Rd in Nelson, and a breath test gave a reading of 714 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

Defence counsel Ian Miller said his client was taking his car back home, which was near where he had been drinking, and accepted he should not have driven while so intoxicated.

Judge Tony Zohrab convicted Connolly, and ordered him to pay $900 plus court costs, while disqualifying him from holding or obtaining a driving licence for seven months.

Later, Timothy James Wright, 35, a teacher from Tahunanui, appeared on the same charge, but was given the option of applying for special conditions for his charge.

He was stopped by police on December 1, while driving on Golf Rd in Nelson, and a sample of his blood was found to contain 113 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Wright said he had drunk two litres of beer at Mccashin’s brewery.

Mr Miller said his client had been moving his car when he was stopped by police, and had only driven about 110 metres in total.

While his client accepted that he had been driving on a public road while above the legal driving limit, the breath test had put the amount of alcohol in his breath at 480 micrograms per litre of breath, only just above the legal limit.

Judge Zohrab said if Mr Wright’s claims were accurate and backed up with evidence, including an affidavit from Wright and his wife, he could apply to the court for special reasons to be considered on his charge. He remanded Wright until February 7 so that an application for special con- ditions could be made. Police road policing manager Inspector Jenni Richardson said police were disappointed with the number of people caught driving with excess blood alcohol levels over the holiday period. Nineteen people were caught drink-driving on New Year’s Eve alone, and Ms Richardson said some of the results were ‘‘huge’’.

‘‘It is the silly season and people out there are not obeying the rules. There’s no excuse. I have heard all of the excuses in the world and at the end of the day you have been drinking and driving and that’s it.’’