An Oamaru woman who drove with a breath-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit, on the wrong side of State Highway 1, and hit a parked car, two signs and a rubbish bin, was described as a ''risk to the community''.
Cheryl Patricia Bedford (48), caregiver, of Oamaru, appeared before Judge Joanna Maze in the Oamaru District Court yesterday, facing her fourth drink-driving conviction (1495mcg). It related to an offence in Thames St, on October 2, 2014.
Her previous readings were all high - 1113mcg (1995), 856mcg (1997) and 1139mcg (2010).
She was also charged with dangerous driving.
On each charge, Bedford was convicted and sentenced to six months home detention, disqualified from driving indefinitely, with a fixed term of two years, and ordered not to acquire any interest in a motor vehicle.
The court heard that Bedford had been drinking at a friend's house before she got behind the wheel early on October 2.
Turning on to Thames Highway, she narrowly missed two vehicles - one took evasive action, while the other braked heavily, to avoid a collision.
A truck driver saw her car being driven in an erratic fashion, on the wrong side of the road, hitting a parked car, before ''shattering'' a street sign 50m further on.
The truck driver called police.
She continued to drive, hitting a rubbish bin, a road works sign and then the kerb, deflating one of her tyres.
She tried to drive with a flat tyre, but was soon stopped by police, near Trent St.
Defence counsel Michael de Buyzer described Bedford's driving as ''most concerning and potentially lethal''.
''It's fortunate that no-one was injured at all,'' he said.
He identified aggravating factors as her conviction history, the ''extremely high'' breath-alcohol level and the circumstances of the driving.
Mr de Buyzer said Bedford had sent a text message to the truck driver who called police about her driving, apologising for her actions, after finding his phone number on a court document.
He replied saying: ''What's done is done. We all do stupid things. As long as we learn from them ... On the night my concern was for other people ... We all deserve a second chance''.
Judge Maze said Bedford had a problem with binge-drinking.
''You knew you were well over the limit but you were determined to drive home,'' Judge Maze said.
Bedford had taken steps to address her problems and had begun counselling sessions, which she had been diligently attending.
Judge Maze said there was ''absolutely no doubt'' that the starting point for sentencing would be a term of imprisonment.
