A South Auckland drunk driver has admitted dangerous driving causing the death of four people, two of them German tourists.
Bevan Shane Marino, 28, had 146 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system. The legal limit is 80.
He had also used cannabis before the fatal crash on State Highway 1 near Te Kauwhata on New Year's Eve 2001.
Marino appeared yesterday in the High Court at Auckland for sentencing. But a pre-sentencing report was not available, so he was remanded in custody.
Last month, Marino pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of Raymond Platzer, aged 52, and his partner, 51-year-old Christine Florich, from Germany, who were in a Nissan Sentra hit by Marino's defective 20-year-old Fairmont.
Also killed were 21-year-old Steven Rudolph and 19-year-old Ernest Rudolph, who were passengers in the Fairmont.
He also pleaded guilty to two charges of causing bodily injury while being over the blood alcohol limit.
His 3 1/2-year-old son Tamaiti, who was unrestrained in the back seat, was thrown through the front windscreen in the crash, and Sina Gloge, aged 19, also from Germany, was severely injured.
The court was told that Marino was seen driving erratically, passing vehicles on double yellow lines, and aggressively tailgating other cars.
Driving towards Te Kauwhata he again overtook vehicles, crossing over the double yellow lines.
As he moved back into his own lane, his rear left tyre punctured and he lost control, hitting the Germans' car.
Police examined the Fairmont and found that the tyres were in poor condition.
The left rear tyre had lost its tread and had shredded.
Its steel casing wires were visible.
The police said that the damage was so long-standing that the casing wires had started to rust.
Marino admitted drinking before and during the trip, and said he had also taken cannabis.
He said he had obtained the car three weeks earlier from a Mongrel Mob pad, and had never really looked at the tyres.
Told by the police of his level of intoxication Marino allegedly said: "Yeah, I was pissed, mate. I don't remember getting over the Bombay Hills, none of it."
Justice Robert Fisher said the Crown was prepared to accept that some of swerving was possibly due to an intoxicated passenger interfering with Marino.
But it relied on Marino crossing the double yellow lines and his aggressive tailgating as aggravating features of his errant driving.
The Crown was also prepared to accept that Marino took over the driving because the original driver was too affected by LSD.
"That makes it a little easier to accept, but not excuse, his decision to drive," the judge said.
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