Community service for woman five times over drink-drive limit

A relief teacher who drove with a blood alcohol level more than five times the legal limit was given 180 hours community service when she appeared in Tauranga District Court today.

Lisa Rachel Bowers, 39, from Papamoa, a seaside suburb of Tauranga, had pleaded guilty. Her blood alcohol level was among the highest recorded in New Zealand.

She was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Community magistrate Robyn Paterson said the reading of 426 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood was "alarming -- the highest reading I have seen in this court".

The legal limit is 80mg.

- NZPA