Man caught speeding, driving drunk with child in car after school pick up in Motueka

A solo dad stopped for speeding after picking up his child from school was then caught driving drunk. Photo / 123rf

It was mid-afternoon on a school day when Steven Jens Hall was caught speeding and driving drunk with his 11-year-old in the car.

The single father had just collected his child from school in Motueka when he was caught on July 26 driving at 71 kilometres an hour in a 50 km/h area.

After he was stopped by police, who also suspected he’d been drinking, a subsequent breath alcohol test gave a reading of 965 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - almost four times the legal limit for drivers aged over 20.

The 51-year-old now has seven convictions for driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, the Nelson District Court heard today.

Hall told the police he’d just picked up his daughter from school and was driving home.

Defence lawyer Mark Dollimore said Hall had been the sole caregiver to his child since 2020, and the night before had “gone on a bender” after receiving distressing news from family in the North Island.

His request to the court for Hall to be allowed to continue driving until sentencing in November was likely to be a “big ask”, Judge Tony Zohrab said in convicting him.

He noted Hall’s history of driving while impaired dated from 1997 to the last conviction before now being in 2021.

“I know you have been punished for what’s happened in the past but I need to assess the risk you pose to people driving around with their children in the car and others around the school.”

Judge Zohrab convicted Hall and remanded him on bail until sentencing on November 21, with a warning that prison would be a starting point for sentence.

Hall was granted permission to drive until then on zero alcohol, and to submit to testing as required.

He was warned that any failure to meet that obligation meant Hall could end up in custody until sentencing.

Meanwhile, another repeat drink driver who appeared in court today has been remanded in custody for sentencing on November 7, after Judge Zohrab said he had no confidence in the defendant’s ability to not offend while on bail.

Damon James Pratt, who has been disqualified from driving multiple times, pleaded guilty to two charges of driving with excess breath alcohol and again, driving while disqualified in February this year, plus further similar charges in April, which also involved young children in his car.

On each occasion, he was found by police to have “very high” alcohol readings; including being almost four times the legal breath alcohol limit on the February matter and just over five times the blood alcohol limit during the April offending, committed while he was on bail.

Judge Zohrab said in remanding him in custody that what stood out was the risk he posed to other members of the public.

He said prison or a residential treatment centre were the only appropriate responses for sentencing.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.