A Kerikeri dentist has been fined and banned from driving for drink-driving following a crash in his ex-girlfriend's Range Rover.
Omar Abed-Ali, of Kerikeri, was sentenced in the Kaikohe District Court on Wednesday on charges of careless driving and driving with excess blood alcohol.
Abed-Ali failed a breath test aftercrashing into a ditch beside Inlet Rd, Kerikeri, in mid-2011.
He then requested a blood test instead, which returned a reading of 106 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.
He disputed the laboratory's finding and the case went to a defended hearing before Judge Greg Davis. In a reserved decision, Judge Davis ruled that the proper blood testing procedures had been followed and found Abed-Ali guilty.
Judge Davis said there had been "nothing untoward" about Abed-Ali's driving before the crash, which was most likely caused by a moment's inattention. The careless driving charge had never been disputed.
Abed-Ali was fined $500 and ordered to pay court costs and medical and analyst's fees totalling slightly more than $300. He was also disqualified from driving for six months An alternative charge of driving under the influence was dismissed.
