Long-haul truck driver fired over drink-driving

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A long-haul truck driver caught drink-driving has lost his job.

Nigel Ross Williamson, 41, was driving a Straits New Zealand-owned heavy truck and trailer from Auckland to Levin when he was routinely stopped in Taumarunui and found to be driving with a breath-alcohol level of 463 micrograms.

He told police he had been about to pull over at a layby for his compulsory rest break.

Appearing briefly at a registrar’s list in Gisborne District Court, Williamson pleaded guilty to a single charge of driving with excess breath-alcohol and was further remanded at large for sentencing on July 3.

The court was told Williamson was now living in Gisborne, having lost his job with the interisland trucking company.