A young computer whizz may have had his dreams of overseas study dashed after a drunken crash on the peninsula.
The 21-year-old who was said to have "outstanding academic ability" was charged with drink-driving and careless driving after he flipped his car on Portobello Rd on September 4.
This week at the Dunedin District Court, the defendant applied for a discharge without conviction on the basis that a criminal record might prevent him from studying for his master's degree outside New Zealand.
But Judge Michael Turner said the scholar had no specific plans in place and therefore could not prove the consequences of a conviction would have outweighed the gravity of his offending.
The court heard the defendant had received an offer of a position, with funding included, at a Danish university last year.
However, the prospective master's student had to decline that offer because of the emergence of mental-health problems for which he was later hospitalised.
Judge Turner said the issue had been "treatment resistant" to date and he suppressed the defendant's name on that basis.
The talented student had been driving on a 70kmh stretch of Portobello Rd and lost control on a bend while exceeding the limit by at least 20kmh.
He hit the bank on the opposite side of the road and the vehicle ended up on its roof.
The defendant blew a reading of 520mcg - more than twice the legal limit.
He admitted to police he had been speeding and said he had consumed two pints of beer beforehand.
Defence counsel Jo Turner provided glowing references to the court on her client's behalf and the duty police prosecutor also attested to the man's good character before withdrawing from proceedings.
The defendant was convicted, fined $600 and banned from driving for six months.
