Drunk driver who killed teen caught over the limit again

Harlee Patera Symes was killed in a crash caused by drink driver Angela Hamlin in 2018. Photo / Supplied via Otago Daily Times

A drink-driver who killed an 18-year-old has been caught driving under the influence again, just months after her disqualification ended.

The family of Harlee Patera Symes, who died in the Edendale crash in 2018, say they were "disgusted" to discover 41-year-old Angela Rebecca Hamlin had been back in the dock.

Hamlin was jailed for two-and-a-half years and banned from driving for three-and-a-half years when she was sentenced before the Invercargill District Court over the death of her passenger.

This week, Hamlin appeared in the Dunedin District Court, where she pleaded guilty to her third drink-driving charge (her first was in 2008).

She was stopped at a police checkpoint in Mosgiel on August 13 and gave a breath-alcohol reading of 452mcg — nearly twice the legal limit.

Angela Hamlin was sentenced to community work and supervision for her third drink-driving offence. Photo / Christine O'Connor

Hamlin told officers she had just returned to driving and was regaining her confidence; she had downed "three big botts" of beer, she said.

Counsel Steve Turner said his client had been encouraged to drive by her partner and did not think she would be over the limit.

He said Hamlin had performed well on parole and remained affected by the fatal crash four years ago.

"She carries that grief every day," Turner said.

But Harlee Symes' brother Taine said that pain was nothing compared with what his family had endured.

Hamlin had been a senior staff member at the farm where he and his sister worked in 2018 and he had been with them in the pub an hour before the crash.

He described his sister as his "best friend".

"She was bright, bubbly, always outgoing, always doing something," Mr Symes said.

He was bewildered by the defendant's most recent crime.

"It's bloody ridiculous. You would've thought she'd learned something from that," he said.

"It's pure stupidity."

Harlee Symes' mother, Nicola, attended the same school as Hamlin, though they were a few years apart, and said she later had a reputation as "a crazy driver".

"I can't believe it ... I'm just so angry," she said.

Judge David Robinson said with the amount of alcohol Hamlin had in her system, she was 16 times more likely than a sober driver to be involved in a fatal incident.

"That's a huge huge risk for you to be taking," he said.

Hamlin was sentenced to 150 hours' community work and nine months' supervision.

The judge said she owed it to her victim to address the underlying factors which had led to her repeatedly offending.

She was disqualified from driving for 28 days with alcohol-interlock restrictions to follow.

Effectively, Hamlin would have a zero-alcohol limit for the next four years, Turner said.