Motorists took keys from drinkdriver

WHEN motorists saw a driver weaving along the Otago Peninsula, they removed her keys, but she still almost managed to evade arrest, a court has heard.

Michaela Jane WhakaueEvans (25) had been kicked out of the home where she lived with her mother and 2yearold child.

She had moved in with a friend and was on stress leave from work on December 30, defence counsel Nathan Laws said.

‘‘Drinking and the illogical decision to drive followed,’’ he said.

‘‘She can offer no real reason for the journey other than to go to see a friend.’’

WhakaueEvans was at almost four times the legal drinkdrive limit at 10pm as she drove her Mazda in Portobello Rd.

‘‘Following motorists observed the vehicle as swerving all over the road and coming close to causing crashes on several occasions,’’ a police summary said.

They called police and followed the defendant to Macandrew Bay where she stopped.

There, the concerned members of the public removed WhakaueEvans’ keys to stop her continuing.

‘‘They had every right to do so,’’ Judge John Walker told the Dunedin District Court yesterday.

But the defendant was not prepared to sit there and wait to be arrested.

She borrowed a cellphone from a peninsula resident and fled, taking the phone with her.

Police used a cellphonetracking app and a police dog team to find the phone, which was in some bushes with WhakaueEvans’ backpack.

As for the defendant, she was caught more than an hour later when officers spotted her in the passenger seat of a friend’s vehicle heading towards the city.

She returned a breath reading of 916mcg — the legal limit is 250.

Mr Laws said there were plenty of factors in his client’s favour, including a glowing reference from her boss who described her as ‘‘reliable and hardworking’’.

The defendant did not have an alcoholdependency issue, her counsel said.

Judge Walker said WhakaueEvans would have been ‘‘under standably’’ distressed when kicked out of her family home.

The relationship with her mother had since been repaired, the court heard.

But the conviction for drinkdriving was her third, Judge Walker noted.

‘‘You need to learn how to deal with stress and adverse circumstances without drinking. Otherwise, life will throw up another challenge at you and you will drink and then you will drive,’’ he said.

‘‘You cannot afford to come back to court on a fourth drinkdriving because the judge will first be thinking about jail.’’

WhakaueEvans was sentenced to four months’ community detention, 12 months’ supervision and was disqualified from driving for 15 months.

Her car was also confiscated.