Repeat drinkdriver given home detention

INVERCARGILL

AN Invercargill woman caught drinkdriving five times avoided prison despite the judge describing a communitybased sentence as ‘‘ludicrous’’.

Ria Theresa Henry (46) appeared in the Invercargill District Court yesterday, where she was sentenced to three months’ home detention after pleading guilty to two charges of driving with excess breathalcohol and being an unlicensed driver who failed to comply with prohibition.

Henry had been banned from driving since 2013, but on July 1, she was stopped by police at a checkpoint while driving her partner’s car in King Edward St, Dunedin.

She recorded 966mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, almost four times the legal limit of 250mcg for an adult.

Judge Michael Turner said a presentence report recommended a sentence of supervision for her, but he had rejected that as ‘‘ludicrous’’ due to Henry’s high risk of reoffending.

While she had been sentenced to intensive supervision at her last conviction in 2018, she had made no changes to her behaviour, he said.

Counsel Tanya McCullum said Henry had real problems with alcohol and used it as a ‘‘coping mechanism’’ to mask traumas from her past.

She said her client was ready to deal with her addiction issues and had engaged with the Nga Kiti Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust to help with that.

Ms McCullum advocated for a sentence which had a rehabilitation approach because if Henry was sent to prison, any progress would be lost.

‘‘She needs a sentence that [will] change her behaviour.’’

After being provided with documentation about Henry’s issues, Judge Turner decided on three months’ home detention with six months of postrelease conditions, which included no consumption of alcohol.

Before she left the dock, Judge Turner told Henry she had ‘‘one foot in prison’’, and if she failed to comply with her home detention sentencing she would go to jail.