KEY POINTS:
A leading neuro clinical psychologist whose car was confiscated following a third drink driving offence has had the confiscation quashed in the High Court.
Garry Huingahau McFarlane-Nathan, who holds a number of contracts with the ACC, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to do 250
hours community work after pleading guilty to excess breath alcohol in the Whangarei District Court in January.
His car was later ordered to be confiscated.
McFarlane-Nathan, who had previous drink-driving convictions in 1996 and 2005, was seen driving erratically, crossing onto the wrong side of the road on State Highway 1 at Ruakaka in January.
A breath test showed he had a reading of 525 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit is 400.
McFarlane-Nathan appealed the confiscation of his vehicle which he said would cause undue hardship.
Justice Christopher Allan in the High Court at Whangarei agreed, saying that it would also cause undue hardship to his family, and more particularly to the many people he employed.
The judge said that McFarlane-Nathan's financial affairs were "somewhat complicated".
He was a neuro clinical psychologist specialising in people with brain and spinal injuries.
His company held multiple contracts with the ACC, stretching from Northland down to Thames.
McFarlane-Nathan said he was the only Maori psychologist working in the Upper North Island.
Justice Allan said that McFarlane-Nathan employed an operations manager, two full-time office assistants, a part-time occupational therapist, a clinical psychologist as well as a number of home care workers and other support staff.
The judge disagreed with the District Court assessment that he was a "man of assets".
On the contrary, Justice Allan said he was in a "parlous" financial position.
His liabilities exceeded his assets and his properties were all highly geared.
In addition, the car was leased.
Habitually, McFarlane-Nathan would roll over outstanding debt on a vehicle when he replaced it with a new one.
The effect was that if the car were now confiscated, the lease would terminate and he would have to pay the lessor around $70,000.
McFarlane-Nathan told the judge that if the car were seized, he would be put into bankruptcy.
Insolvency would mean he would lose his ACC work.
In quashing the confiscation order, Justice Allan said that McFarlane-Nathan was a highly-qualified man offering the community a specialised and important service.
Currently, he employed a driver to take him to appointments.
"The complete loss of that contract would plainly have devastating financial and professional consequences for him," the judge said.
It would cause undue hardship to him, his family and workers.
This was one of those rare cases where the possible loss of employment justified the refusal of the sort of confiscation order that would normally follow recidivist breath alcohol offending, the judge said.
- NZPA
