Man jailed for fifth drink-drive conviction

A Far North man who was stopped by police and told them he didn't normally drive while drunk has been jailed for his fifth drink-driving conviction.

Boydie KAKA, 38, appeared in the Kaitaia District Court for sentencing on a charge of driving with excess breath-alcohol for a third or subsequent time after he was stopped on State Highway 10, Cable Bay, at 5.45pm on June 22.

An officer in a passing police car noticed Kaka was driving and, on turning to stop the vehicle, saw it had pulled up outside the Cable Bay Dairy. The officer saw Kaka switch seats with the front-seat passenger in an effort to cover up that he had been driving.

Kaka was spoken to and exhibited signs of alcohol consumption, breath smelling of liquor and speech slurred, and a test showed he had a level of 800 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, double the limit.

When spoken to by police he denied he was the driver, but said: "I don't normally drive drunk, but I did tonight."

Kaka was jailed for 12 months and disqualified from driving for 18 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:

Janet Rose MORUNGA, 56, 506mcg, 50 hours' community work, 12 months' supervision for third drink-driving conviction.

Thomas Tasi LEOTA, 20, 475mcg, 40 hours' community work, disqualified from driving for six months.

Marianne HOANI, 32, 695mcg, $600 fine, disqualified from driving for six months.

Jared Dylan COOPER, 24, 556mcg, 80 hours' community work, disqualified from driving for six months.

Natacha Garcia DAMM, 19, chef, 769mcg, disqualified from driving for one month.

Hori ANARU, 18, 533mcg, $450 fine, disqualified from driving for six months.

Gilbert TANA, 58, 142 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, $700 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: Young drivers with a blood-alcohol limit of between 0.00 and 0.03 will receive an infringement fee of $200 and 50 demerit points. Young drivers with a blood-alcohol limit over that will continue to be subject to the same drink-drive penalties as adults.