An Oamaru freezing worker’s wild ride in an airborne van came after a heavy drinking session the day before, a court has heard.
On Wednesday, Jed Rawiri McKay (19) appeared before Judge Joanna Maze at the Oamaru District Court for sentencing on a charge of drink-driving.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Mike Wingfield, of Dunedin, told the court about 3pm on May 16 McKay was driving his Ford Econovan south on State Highway 1 at Reidston, southwest of Oamaru.
About 60m before reaching Station Rd his vehicle drifted off the left shoulder of the highway, before it took off.
McKay’s van flew through the air and into a paddock on the south side of Station Rd, clipping a fence in the process.
His off-road adventure continued for another 60m as he ploughed through the paddock, smashed through a fence and finally ended up back on the highway. Police were called to the scene and conducted a breath-alcohol test on McKay, who returned a failed result of 455mcg.
When spoken to by police, he initially claimed the single-vehicle crash was caused by a blown front right tyre, but later changed his story and said he may have fallen asleep.
McKay was then quizzed as to why he had alcohol in his system, and admitted he had knocked back 15 vodka RTDs up to 11pm the previous evening.
Lawyer Michael de Buyzer told Judge Maze his client had made amends with the landowner whose property he barrelled through by turning up the next day with a group of friends to fix the fence, and had also written a letter of apology.
McKay was young and "youthful inexperience" regarding the amount of alcohol he could handle and its effects on him were the major contributing factors that lead to the crash, Mr de Buyzer said.
Judge Maze praised McKay for his efforts to make things right with the owner of the property.
He was fined $400, ordered to pay court costs of $130 and disqualified from driving for six months.
