A Gate Pa mother of six expecting her seventh child has been jailed for a year after clocking up her 3rd, 4th and 5th drink-driving offences in two months.
Sending Pania Mason, 28, to prison where she could not drink alcohol would be better for her unborn child, a Tauranga judge
said.
Mason who pleaded guilty in Tauranga District Court yesterday to driving with an excess breath alcohol (3rd or subsequent offence), was sentenced on that charge plus two earlier admitted charges of driving with an excess breath alcohol (also 3rd and subsequent offences).
The court was told that when Mason was stopped on Waihi Rd in the early hours of May 21 she had an excess breath alcohol of 485 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The adult legal limit is 400 mcgs.
She had four passengers in the car.
At the time Mason was awaiting sentence on two earlier drink-driving offences committed five days apart in March, and was also driving in breach of her bail conditions not to drive any motor vehicle.
On March 25 Mason was stopped driving on 21st Ave with an excess breath alcohol reading of 1060 mgs and on March 30 she was driving on the same road with an alcohol reading of 575 mcgs with five passengers.
Mason's first two drink-driving convictions were in 2003 and 2008 which were both high readings at 1241 mcgs and 829 mcgs respectively.
Her legal counsel David Bates told Judge Ian Thomas that while Mason asked for sentencing to be adjourned for a home detention assessment to be carried out or to be considered for a community based sanction, realistically he had forewarned her to expect a term of imprisonment given her offending.
The judge revealed that five of Mason's six children ranging in age from two and 13 years are in her mother's care due to concerns about her drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence issues, and her sixth child lives with whanau in Lower Hutt.
Judge Thomas told Mason that her drinking to excess and then driving was not only a public safety concern but also had serious consequences for her unborn child.
"Sending you to prison means you won't be able to drink which will be big plus in protecting your unborn child," he said.
The judge indefinitely disqualified her from driving for a minimum of two years and ordered her vehicle to be permanently confiscated.
A Gate Pa mother of six expecting her seventh child has been jailed for a year after clocking up her 3rd, 4th and 5th drink-driving offences in two months.
Sending Pania Mason, 28, to prison where she could not drink alcohol would be better for her unborn child, a Tauranga judge
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