Driving ban for former model caught four times over drink-drive limit

A former top model who co-owned Queenstown skydiving company NZONE has been banned from driving after being caught with a breath-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit.

Kirsty Lay, 55, of Christchurch, gave a reading of 1049mcg after she was stopped in Hallenstein St in the resort at noon on January 9.

She won TV modelling competition Revlon Face of the Eighties, and worked as a model in New York for much of that decade, represented by elite agency Ford Models.

She was later an owner of the Exposure Model Agency.

Known in business circles as Kirsty Smith, she co-owned Skydive Queenstown Limited Group - operating as NZONE Skydive Queenstown and Skydive Paradise - with husband Steve and Lindsay and Robynne Williams.

The two couples sold the business to an Australian company in 2016 for $17 million.

Lay had her case transferred to the Wellington District Court where, on May 9, she was sentenced to nine months' supervision with special conditions, fined $800, and banned from driving for three months.

She can apply for an alcohol interlock device to be installed in her vehicle when her ban expires.

Her LinkedIn profile describes her as the founder and quality assurance consultant for the New Zealand Skydiving School. She is also a former chief executive and shareholder of the company, which is based near Methven, in Canterbury.

Interlock devices, which prevent a car starting if there is alcohol on the driver's breath, are mandatory for repeat offenders or offenders with high alcohol levels, and must remain fitted on their vehicle for at least 12 months.