A woman caught driving while almost four times the legal alcohol limit was "lucky to be alive," a judge said today.
Francesca Moana Kairau was dobbed in by members of the public after being spotted driving erratically in Wellington on June 15.
According to the prosecution, the 33-year-old local hitthe kerb several times while driving a Land Cruiser eastbound through the Mt Victoria tunnel about 6pm.
She later crossed 'no passing' lines in the middle of the road, swerved to avoid oncoming traffic and parked cars, then almost hit a pedestrian crossing the road when she nearly failed to stop at a red light.
Further on, Kairau accelerated to 90km/h in a 70km/h area and twice drove onto roundabouts.
He imposed a sentence of five months community detention, 300 hours community work and nine months supervision, with an 18-month driving ban.
"Any further offending and you will go to prison."
Told that Kairau had taken to "self-medicating" with alcohol during an abusive relationship, Judge Blaikie said: "There are many people who have relationship problems much worse than yours but they don't drink."