A Queenstown taxi driver has been banned from driving his cab
for two years after being busted for drink-driving while
carrying two passengers in his car.
Alistair Norman Bremer, 53, pleaded guilty in Queenstown
Court yesterday for driving with a an excess blood alcohol
level on December 17, The Press reported.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Ian Collin said Bremer was stopped
at a checkpoint while carrying two passengers and recorded a
breath alcohol level of 494mcg.
He told police he had had only two glasses of bourbon.
Defence lawyer Dale Lloyd said Bremer had made an "error of
judgment" and was so convinced he was under the limit he told
police when apprehended "you've got to be joking".
"He's driven countless numbers of intoxicated people over the
years and is well aware of why people take taxis," she said.
Judge Kevin Phillips said Bremer's actions had been
"unbelievable" and "deplorable".
"It's difficult to understand how or why a man could consider
drinking any alcohol at all when he knew he was going on
shift as a taxi driver," he said.
Bremer was fined $1000, disqualified from driving for 10
months and disqualified from operating a vehicle in a
transport service for two years.
