Beers end with seven months' jail

A repeat Northland drink-driver who insisted he had only had three bottles of beer has been jailed for seven months for his latest conviction.

Manukau Christopher WELSH, 56, appeared for sentencing in Kaikohe District Court on a charge of driving with excess breath-alcohol for a third or subsequent time.

Police say Welsh was stopped on Station Rd, Kaikohe, just after midnight on September 6 last year. He smelled strongly of alcohol but said he had only had about "three bottles of beer".

A test showed he had a level of 478 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, The legal adult limit is 400mcg.

Welsh was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment and disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Northland has some of the highest rates of drink-driving in the country, particularly repeat offenders, and the Northern Advocate is publishing its "name and shame" list of all people convicted of drink-driving offences in the region.

Also sentenced in Northland's courts recently were:

Venus CROSS, 38, 708mcg, $650 fine, disqualified from driving for six months. Janine Anne HERBERT, 36, Salvation Army worker, 703mcg, 60 hours' community work, disqualified from driving for six months.

Jonathan Michael HENDRIKS, 58, unemployed, 564mcg, 200 hours' community work, 12 months' supervision, disqualified from driving for 12 months and one day for third conviction.

Rosemary Hihiria MARSHALL, 48, 780mcg, 60 hours' community work, disqualified from driving for six months.

Henry Martin HITA, 40, unemployed, 901mcg, 60 hours' community work, disqualified from driving for six months.

Ella Maree TE RORE, 42, 893mcg, $900 fine, disqualified from driving for six months.

Liquor limits: Aged 20 and above: 400mcg of alcohol per litre of breath; 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. Under 20: Drivers with a blood alcohol limit of between 0.00 and 0.03 receive an infringement fee of $200 and 50 demerit points and over that limit subject to the same penalties as adults.