A former top Queenstown downhill mountain biker has avoided a conviction for drink-driving.
Sam Thompson Robbie (22), who in 2018 won the Oceania under-19 championships in the sport, applied for a discharge without conviction in the Queenstown District Court yesterday.
Robbie was riding an unregistered, child-sized motorbike when he was pulled over at a random stop in Panners Way about 3am on Christmas Day.
A breath-alcohol test gave a result of 499mcg, or just under twice the legal limit.
Counsel Louise Denton said he had just left a party where party-goers were riding the mini-motorbikes in the street, prompting noise complaints from neighbours.
As a result, a patrol car was sitting at the top of the cul-de-sac with its lights off.
Robbie had only ridden about 20m, at low speed, when he was stopped.
He immediately accepted he had made a "bad decision", and admitted the charge at the first opportunity.
The offending was out of character, he had a clean criminal record, and was unlikely to reoffend.
Robbie had competed as a downhill racer as a youth, but a concussion injury had put his participation in the sport on hold, potentially costing him a professional contract, Ms Denton said.
When his return to the sport was delayed by the Covid pandemic, he embarked on a building apprenticeship with the intention of returning to competitive racing this year.
However, the drink-driving charge forced him to "put everything on hold".
He had subsequently taken up motocross racing, and planned to compete in that sport as well.
A conviction could prevent him from entering Canada for up to five years, and potentially other countries as well, which would "affect the viability of his sporting career", she said.
Judge Bernadette Farnan said the defendant’s sporting CV showed his plans to compete overseas were not merely aspirational.
Although police opposed the application, she accepted the consequences of a conviction were out of proportion to the low seriousness of the offence.
She granted the discharge, ordered Robbie to make a $500 payment to either The Right Track programme or St John, and disqualified him from driving for six months.
