Drunk dad driven by 10-year-old

A Taranaki father has been sentenced to community work after getting his

10-year-old son to drive for him because he was drunk. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his child, was charged with neglect for the incident in New Plymouth just after midnight on June

3.The man told officers his son had driven about 4km and had acted as his sober driver many times before. After pleading guilty in New Plymouth District Court he was sentenced to

100 hours’ community work, 12 months’ intensive supervision, disqualified from driving for 6 months, and was required to attend alcoholism and parenting programmes.