British model Paula Hamilton has avoided a jail term for her second drink-driving conviction, but it may have ended her dream of settling in New Zealand.
Judge Murray Abbott in the Christchurch District Court sentenced Hamilton, 42, to 200 hours of community service and disqualified her from driving indefinitely.
He warned her
that a third offence could land her in jail.
The court was told that Hamilton was drinking beer, whisky and vodka while driving from Christchurch to Southland on December 13 last year.
Hitchhikers she picked up at Burnham became so concerned when her car began swerving on the road south of Oamaru that they forced her to stop and took her car keys.
Police were called after Hamilton began blocking traffic. They found her highly intoxicated.
A hearing was to have been held yesterday on her claim that her excess breath alcohol level, 2 1/2 times the legal limit, was due in part to drinking after her keys were taken. But Hamilton abandoned the hearing and was sentenced.
Outside the court, she said the punishment was "the right decision", even though it could prevent her being allowed to live in New Zealand permanently.
"Two hundred hours is very, very hefty. I'm an international student and I'm not that bright. It takes me a lot longer to write assignments," she said.
"Maybe my community service can be something where I can be really useful, like on drugs and alcohol."
She said she would talk to immigration experts about her future, but remained optimistic about her chances of staying in New Zealand.
Hamilton recently won a court decision against Christchurch addiction centre The Deanery, which was ordered to pay her $40,000 for what the Human Rights Review Tribunal described as "extreme" breaches of her privacy. The Deanery and its former director, Ewen McLeod, are bankrupt.
In court, Hamilton's lawyer, Pip Hall, blamed The Deanery for contributing to the problems that led to the binge that landed Hamilton in the dock.
- NZPA
