Driver caught speeding at 154km/h on state highway almost four times the drink drive limit

A man caught driving at 154km/h on the highway between Nelson and Richmond was also almost four times the legal drink-drive limit. Photo / Nelson Weekly

It was late at night on July 31 this year that Mark Murray was detected on police radar driving at 154km/h along a South Island state highway.

As it turned out he was also driving while almost four times over the legal alcohol limit, which led a judge to describe it as an "extraordinarily bad, dangerous piece of driving", made worse by him having been so "significantly under the influence of alcohol".

It was the 28-year-old's third drink-drive offence – the two previous happened when he was teen, with the last a decade ago.

He must now complete 300 hours of community work for the offending.

In the Nelson District Court today, Murray, a meatworks seasonal worker, admitted charges of driving with excess breath alcohol for a third or subsequent time and driving at a dangerous speed.

Police prosecution told the court that after Murray was stopped by police on Whakatu Drive, the highway between Nelson and Richmond which has a 100km/h speed limit, an evidential breath test showed him with 999 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath – the legal limit for a driver over 20 years old is 250 micrograms per litre of breath.

Judge Rielly said it was unclear why Murray had behaved as he did, after so long since his last offence.

"I don't know why on earth you did this, but I hope, as your lawyer has said, that you regret your actions and that it won't happen again.

"It's so important you know the risk you posed to other members of the community," Judge Rielly said.

On the charge of drink driving, Murray was sentenced to 200 hours' community work, and 100 hours on the charge of dangerous driving.

He was now also subject to an alcohol interlock order, which carried an automatic 28-day disqualification before the device was fitted to his car for a year. He would then spend three years on a zero-alcohol licence.