3 years for driver on 23rd drink conviction

New Zealand's second-worst drink-driver has been sentenced to three years' jail.

Kenneth James Morgan, 56, a builder, pleaded guilty in the Porirua District Court yesterday to driving with excess breath alcohol and driving while disqualified.

It was his 23rd drink-driving conviction and his 27th conviction for disqualified driving.

Judge Jan Kelly called Morgan's repeated bouts of drink-driving "appalling".

It showed he had low motivation to beat his alcoholism, and the purpose of the sentence was to denounce his serial offending, stop others tempted to behave in a similar manner and protect the public.

"Your continued disregard of court sentences and your alcoholism mean you are a risk to other road users," she said.

Justice Ministry figures show that New Zealand's worst drink-driver has 26 convictions.

Judge Kelly said the separate sentences of 18 months would be cumulative, equating to a three-year sentence.

Morgan was refused leave to apply for home detention and disqualified from driving for two years on one charge and indefinitely on the other.

He was stopped by police on July 16 for erratic driving on State Highway 1 near Waikanae. A breath test gave a reading of 1262 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - more than three times the legal limit of 400.

Morgan's lawyer, Paul Surridge, said the latest offence happened a few days after his birthday, an occasion prompting lengthy celebrations.

"Unfortunately the birthday celebrations triggered extreme drinking by him, leading him to fall off the wagon in a big way."

The level of his alcoholism lowered his resistance to risk-taking and effectively led Morgan to "drive himself" to prison, Mr Surridge said.

Judge Kelly noted the convictions were only the latest in a history dating back more than 25 years, which also included dishonesty offences and breaches of court orders.

Ministry figures show that Morgan's first conviction was in 1971 for driving with excess breath alcohol. He was disqualified from driving for a year.

Over the years he has amassed convictions for forgery, fraud, theft, burglary, shoplifting and one charge of assault.

Judge Kelly said people who had tried to help him with his alcoholism felt let down.

Morgan was ordered to attend and complete alcohol rehabilitation programmes for up to six months after his release from prison.

Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said the sentence reflected the public's expectation of appropriate sentences for recidivist offenders.

Serial offenders

June 2005: Paul Maurice Tronel, a 47-year-old Tauranga storeman, was jailed for eight months after being caught drink-driving for the eighth time.

April 2005: Glenn Martin Voice, 35, from Tauranga, was sentenced to six months' jail on his fifth charge of driving with excess breath alcohol.

April 2005: Joseph Deon Tait, 37, forestry worker from Rotorua, was sentenced to a year in jail for his 14th drink-driving offence.

April 2005: Mark Allan Phelan, 57, of Greerton, was sentenced to two months' jail for his third charge of driving with excess breath alcohol.

November 2002: Recidivist drink-driver Warwick Bruce Couchman, 52, was sentenced in the Oamaru District Court to two years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of driving while disqualified and driving with an excess breath-alcohol limit. He had three previous excess breath-alcohol convictions and one excess blood-alcohol conviction.

- NZPA, additional reporting: Louisa Cleave