Elderly Nelson man gets sixth drink-drive sentence in 58 years

An 86-year-old has racked up a drink drive record spanning more than half a century. Photo / Stuart Munro

He didn’t have a licence, but Bernard Casey, who admits to having no intention of stopping his drinking habits, was driving his friend anyway.

The two had an argument while driving in Wanaka on February 1 this year, and soon after his passenger got out Casey was stopped by the police and breath tested.

“He believes it was the person who was in the vehicle who made the complaint,” defence lawyer Jackie Van Schalkwyk told the court.

Casey, 86, was sentenced in the Nelson District Court today on charges of driving with excess breath alcohol on a third or subsequent occasion and driving while forbidden.

It was his sixth offence for driving drunk, spanning more than half a century, with the last being in 2014.

He was supported in court by a representative from the Salvation Army, which the court heard played a large part in his life.

Casey was behind the wheel of the car when he was stopped by the police. An evidential breath test recorded him with 574 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

Judge Jo Rielly described it as a “moderately high reading”, made worse by the fact he was driving with no licence.

“You think it was someone in the car who made the complaint, but no matter how it came about, you weren’t supposed to be driving at all.”

Judge Rielly noted Casey had been “up front” about the fact he did not intend to change his drinking habits, and that addiction to alcohol had been a feature throughout his life.

“I am concerned about your lack of insight into the risk to others. In the circumstances, you simply cannot get behind the wheel again.”

Casey was sentenced to nine months’ supervision with standard conditions, and disqualified from driving for a year with a warning not to drive at all.

Judge Rielly said Casey’s age was a factor in determining that there was no point in imposing a sentence of community detention.