Hunger is no excuse for a banned driver to get behind the wheel with a child in the back seat, says a Rotorua District Court judge.
Mother of three Crystal Aroha Ohlson, 30, told police she was hungry and was on her way to buy a burger when she
was stopped for speeding.
She was found to have a breath alcohol level two and half times the legal limit of 400mcg.
Ohlson was yesterday in the Rotorua District Court sentenced to 18 months' supervision and three months' community detention.
She had previously pleaded guilty to driving with a breath alcohol level of 1046mcg per litre of breath, driving while disqualified and giving false details to police.
She was stopped for speeding on Pererika St on July 2 and breath tested. Police found her 4-year-old child in the back seat.
She told police she decided to drive because she was hungry and wanted a burger.
As part of her community detention order, she will have to stay at home every weekend between 5pm on Friday and 7am on Monday for three months. Ohlson's lawyer Olivia Brittain told the court Ohlson had already been in custody for three months.
Judge Melanie Harland said the breath alcohol level was extremely high and made her extremely unsafe to be on the road.
Going to get a burger because she was hungry was not an acceptable excuse, Judge Harland said.
Ohlson had a history of driving after drinking and driving while disqualified and in 2001 she was given a final prison warning.
However, Judge Harland commended Ohlson for going to the police the day after the incident and admitting she had lied to them about who she was. "That says a lot about you."
Judge Harland also acknowledged an event which happened to one of Ohlson's children last year which had led to her going off the rails but no further details were given about that in court yesterday.
