Michael Hogan appeared on TVNZ's show I Am to speak about his life free of addiction. Photo / TVNZ
Michael Hogan appeared on TVNZ's show I Am to speak about his life free of addiction. Photo / TVNZ
An addiction counsellor has escaped conviction for drink-driving - just days before appearing on a TV show talking about being free from addiction.
Michael David Hogan, 56, appeared in the Porirua District Court recently, having pleaded guilty to driving with excess breath alcohol third or subsequent. He has four previous convictions for drink-driving, with the most recent being 20 years ago.
He applied for a discharge without conviction, which the police opposed.
According to the summary of facts, Hogan was driving on Kenepuru Dr about 8.35pm on November 22 when he was stopped at a police checkpoint. He was found to have a breath alcohol level of 544mcg. The legal limit is 250mcg.
In explanation, he told police he was an “idiot” for driving.
Michael Hogan was stopped at a police checkpoint. Photo / File
At the discharge without conviction hearing, Judge Jan Kelly said the level of alcohol in Hogan’s breath put him at the “low to moderate range”.
She said there were no aggravating factors to the offending, noting the previous convictions were historical.
It was raised in court that he also had an infringement for excess breath alcohol in the past few years, meaning he was over the limit, but not high enough to earn a conviction.
Hogan had made a $650 donation to the Westpac Chopper Appeal and also entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, Judge Kelly said.
“In your letter to the court . . . you say that you are deeply embarrassed, ashamed, and apologise to be appearing before the court,” she said.
“You say you have let yourself, your employer and your family down, and potentially put your community at risk.”
Hogan told the court he worked as a counsellor for the Taeaomanino Trust, an organisation that provides social and mental health services as well as counselling support.
“You also volunteer for two other organisations supporting families with issues, mainly around addiction,” Judge Kelly said.
“You say by way of explanation that you had a slip in your recovery by not looking after your emotional wellbeing. At that time you had been working through Covid as an essential worker, looking after others and perhaps not yourself. You say that, along with your employer, you immediately put measures and supports in place.”
A letter from Hogan’s supervisor said she had known him as a valued community service worker in the addiction field for some years.
“She said shortly after this charge, you declared what had happened and presented with a great deal of remorse.”
Hogan had been working to learn from his mistake and build a stronger addiction recovery with an “enhanced recovery focus plan”. He has been attending counselling, AA meetings, and has daily supervision with the Taeaomanino Trust.
He said a conviction could mean his position at work would be in jeopardy and could interfere with his ability to renew his registration when it expired.
Judge Kelly said Hogan had made a “serious” mistake and had done “everything possible since then to make matters right and ensure that this will not happen again”.
She said the consequences of a conviction would be out of all proportion to the gravity of his offending, and discharged him without conviction. Judge Kelly still disqualified Hogan from driving, however, for 12 months from November last year.
Within a week of being discharged, Hogan appeared on TVNZ’s show I Am, speaking about his history of drug and alcohol addiction, and saying he was now free from addiction.
In the episode I am Michael Hogan: I am free from addiction, he described how he started drinking at a young age and then became hooked on meth, but got sober in the early 2010s for his family.
He said recovering from meth was the hardest thing he had ever done, and he was able to make it through after travelling up to Taranaki for rehab.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
