- An application under section 94 of the Land Transport Act 1998 was granted on a charge of Driving with Excess Breath Alcohol 3rd or Subsequent Offence (Level 592) being Mr H’s sixth conviction for drink driving. Mr H had previous convictions for drink driving in 2004 where he received a final warning, 1993, 1992, 1990 and 1989.
- He was sentenced to 180 hours of community work and no disqualification was imposed.
- Mr H was a 41-year-old man with five children aged 24, 22, 17, 16 and 13 two children being stepchildren lived at home with the Applicant and his de facto partner. Mr H resided in the rural area where public transport is very limited. Mr H was employed full-time by a waste management company as a LEV truck driver responsible for cleaning cesspits around Auckland particularly in the South Auckland area. Mr H had a driver’s licence for 1, 2 and 4 for a dangerous goods endorsement. Mr H employment involved variable start and finish times he could be required to leave as early at 3:00am in the morning and finish at about 4:00pm.
- Mr H was the sole support person for his mother who had limited mobility and was residing in the Retirement Village. He was the only person who visited his mother who had mental health problems including schizophrenia and was incontinent. Mr H would normally attend to his mother at least three times per week on his way home from work. He would also attend outside those times if she had a health problem or had concerns about her care and treatment.
- Mr H completed the ten hour “One for the Road” rehabilitation programme with the Harmony Trust in May 2013.
- Mr H sought to be dealt with by way of a sentence not involving disqualification to help him meet his work and family commitments. Mr H was eligible to apply for a limited licence. The pre-sentence report recommended community detention
