A woman who drove with a breath-alcohol level more than 3 times the 400mcg legal limit had her 12-year-old son as a passenger, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
Andrea Veronica Woodford (43), part-time charity worker, of Dunedin, admitted driving with a breath-alcohol level of 1419mcg in Union St East on September 13.
She was convicted, fined $1400, court costs $130, and disqualified from driving for nine months. Prosecutor Sergeant Ross Hutton said police stopped Woodford about 5.40pm and found she had recently consumed alcohol.
She had her 12-year-old son as a passenger. A test showed her breath-alcohol level was 1419mcg. Woodford was adamant she had had only two glasses of wine that day.
Counsel Rochelle Crossman said Woodford had been drinking very heavily the night before and had not eaten that night or on the day of the offence.
She had had two large glasses of wine about 2pm. Woodford was sorry to have put her son in the position she did.
She accepted she had a drinking problem and would be attending Alcoholics Anonymous. Judge Stephen Coyle said he could see Woodford was remorseful, but her breath-alcohol level had been ''appallingly high''.
She must have been exceedingly drunk the night before, and he suspected she had drunk more than two glasses of wine on the day. Woodford had one previous drink-drive conviction, in 1995, the judge noted.
