Unrepentant drink driver sent to jail for 30 months

Whangarei man Frederick Beazley has gone to jail for repeatedly driving drunk and driving while disqualified. PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

Frederick Mokai Beazley said he had never stopped for police and would flee from them again after he was arrested for what a judge described as an "appalling piece of driving" in a residential area.

The 45-year-old appeared in the Whangarei District Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to a raft of driving matters, including driving while disqualified, dangerous driving, failing to stop and refusing a blood specimen.

He had 12 previous convictions for driving while disqualified and seven for drink driving prior to his latest court appearance.

"This is yet another case in Northland where people think it's appropriate to continue driving when police indicate they should pull over," Judge John McDonald said.

"Flee from police and then go on to commit other offences, the starting point is jail. In car chases when something goes wrong, police are often blamed. They are not to be."

The police summary of facts stated Beazley failed to stop for police and drove at speed along Riverside Dr, Whangarei at 11pm on October 29, 2016.

He was indefinitely disqualified from driving at the time.

Judge McDonald said Beazley mounted a kerb, drove over a footpath, and swerved between lanes in the 50km/h zone before his vehicle spun out of control as he approached Memorial Drive.

He managed to regain control of his vehicle, and on Memorial Drive a rear wheel tyre blew and the car came to a stop on a grass verge.

Beazley jumped out and ran off but was arrested a short time later.

He refused a roadside breath test and a blood specimen at the Whangarei Police Station.

Judge McDonald said people such as Beazley had no regard for other road users.

"You told a probation officer at the time you drove you were so drunk that you could not even remember what happened.

"You said you have always run from police and will do it again. Public safety is an important consideration for the court," the judge said.

In 2015, he said Beazley was sentenced to one year in jail on a charge of driving while disqualified.

Judge McDonald sentenced him to 30 months in jail on all charges.