Freedom and jobs at stake, lawyers believe

RECALL: Police have recalled 400 Drager 7510 breath-testing devices - including 34 from Northland - after some were found to be faulty.

34 Northland testing devices recalled

People may have lost their freedom or livelihoods after being breath tested with machines that may have been faulty, Northland lawyers fear.

Northlanders could be among drink-drivers whose convictions are waived after 34 breath-testing devices from Northland police stations have been returned to national headquarters because of problems with their calibration.

Police could not yet say if any of the Northland-issued devices were faulty or whether they may have resulted in faulty breath-test readings.

Whangarei lawyers who represent drink-drivers in court said the problem meant some drink-drivers, especially repeat suspects, could have ended up in jail or lost their jobs as a result of another conviction.

Nationally the faulty devices could result in drink-driving convictions against at least 86 people waived even before testing of all the machines.

Police have revealed 400 Drager 7510 devices, which cost about $900 each, that were rolled out during July to one, two and three-person stations in mostly rural areas had been recalled.

To date 343 of the 400 devices in use have been tested, with 58 found to be defective.
Twenty-nine devices that failed had delivered positive breath-test results that meant 86 possible charges were affected.

As of yesterday police had identified 10 more cases in which people had been convicted as a result of a faulty device but were unable to say if any of those cases were in Northland.

National manager road policing Superintendent Steve Greally said until the problem was understood the machines would not be used. Police had decided to waive any infringements or charges that had resulted from the faulty machines.

The problem emerged during a recent random spot test by police, and the machines had been sent for testing as a precautionary measure.

Breath testing would continue throughout Northland and the rest of the country as police had 2900 other alcohol-testing devices.

Whangarei defence lawyer Shaun Russell said driving with excess breath-alcohol was an offence for which readings from breathalyser machines were not disputed.

"Breath-alcohol readings are viewed as airtight or the same as DNA evidence, and courts, especially in Northland, take a hard line on drink-drivers because of the high numbers up here," he said.

Drivers in the transport industry, he said, could lose their driving licences for a mandatory six months as a result of a drink-driving conviction which meant they could ultimately lose their jobs.

Another defence lawyer, Kelly Ellis, said the stakes were high for those convicted of drink-driving after they had been breath tested with machines that were not properly calibrated. "Given the scale of the problem, it wouldn't surprise me if people who've been convicted before of drink-driving are sent to jail after their latest conviction.

"Others just on the threshold who've blown over the limit could lose their jobs or careers," she said.