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.