58 land in court over drink-driving charges

The shocking state of Northland's drink-driving problem has been highlighted by 58 people appearing in Whangarei District Court in one day with a third being repeat offenders.
The 58 alleged drink-drivers - including 19 with two or more previous convictions - were all listed to appear in the Whangarei District Court yesterday with many making a first appearance before the court registrar between 9am and 10am.
But the sheer volume of those appearing in the court is no surprise for the officer in charge of police prosecutions for Northland - and acting Northland road policing manger - Janine Attwood-Graham.
Ms Attwood-Graham said it was "nothing special" to have so many in the court for drink-driving offences, as the chances of people getting caught had greatly increased as police upped their enforcement.
"We had a TAG (traffic alcohol group) operation from Thursday to Sunday and we stopped and checked more than 3000 drivers. Of those 67 had drunk alcohol with eight charged with driving with excess breath alcohol and five had previous drink-drive convictions," she said.
Police on drink-drive duty were often criticised by motorists for "not catching real criminals," Ms Attwood-Graham said.
"But drink-drivers are real criminals. They are people that cause danger on the roads and death and carnage. Just ask somebody who has lost a loved one to a drink-driving-related accident if they are criminals or not."
In Northland, between 2003 and 2007, alcohol was a factor in 30 per cent of fatal and serious injury crashes, the highest rate in the country.
Yesterday, Damon Patira, 26, was chastised by the judge after driving with "an absolutely lethal combination" of alcohol and drugs in his system.
Patira pleaded guilty to driving with excess breath alcohol and two counts of possessing cannabis on December 24.
Judge Duncan Harvey said Patira had a breath alcohol level of 892mcg of alcohol and acknowledged smoking cannabis as well.
"That's an absolutely lethal combination. You are very fortunate you didn't get involved in an accident and hurt somebody else," the judge said.
"If you want to kill yourself that's your business, but if you drive on the roads like that you put others at risk."
Patira was fined $800, ordered to pay $130 court costs and disqualified from driving for seven months.
Michael O'Halloran, 42, self-employed, pleaded guilty to driving with a level of 650mcg of alcohol per litre of breath on November 30, last year. The legal limit is 400mcg for motorists aged 20 and above. Defence lawyer Shaun Russell said O'Halloran's partner died last February and O'Halloran had a hard time dealing with her death, using alcohol to help cope.
O'Halloran had a previous drink-driving conviction in 1998.
Judge Harvey told O'Halloran he had every sympathy with somebody who had lost a partner.
"But by your own admission you drank eight handles of beer before driving ... and as a result you could have caused somebody else to lose a partner. That's something you have to think about seriously," the judge said.
He fined O'Halloran $850, with court costs of $130 and disqualified him for for seven months.
Bradley Stewart, 25, admitted drink-driving for a third time and disqualified driving. He asked for bail until sentencing on April 30. Stewart had a reading of 900mcg of alcohol when stopped on November 23. Judge Harvey said Stewart had an appalling record and repeat drink drivers could not expect bail as a right. He granted Stewart bail with strict conditions and a warning that there would be consequences if he breached them.