Alcohol reading 'off scale'

A driver has been warned by a judge that she faces jail for her "staggering" blood alcohol reading of more than five times the legal limit.

Patricia Anne Konia, 47, stood with her head bowed and gloved hands clasped in the Dunedin District Court yesterday as Judge Emma Smith remanded her on bail to reappear on June 20 following the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

"The level is just quite simply staggering," she said.

"That in my view demands a report, for there is the prospect of imprisonment."

Konia yesterday admitted driving with a blood-alcohol level of 426mg - the highest Dunedin police can remember - and driving while disqualified.

Police had stopped her in Nelson St, South Dunedin, at 4.23pm on April 21 after a complaint by a member of the public about her driving.

Konia was disqualified for eight months last December for driving with a breath alcohol level of 983mcg and fined $950.

Yesterday, the court heard that when Konia was asked to produce her driver's licence, she said she only had an Australian one.

She then said police still had her licence. Further inquiries revealed she was disqualified.

Police prosecutor Tim Hambleton said Konia was breath-tested but the test was incomplete because she exceeded 2000mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, the maximum level the breath-alcohol test was capable of measuring.

She then agreed to have a blood test. Blood-test results gave her a reading of 426mg of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit for an adult is 80mg.

Konia admitted to police she had been drinking. She said she was just picking up her car from the pub, the court heard.

Konia's lawyer, Tim Black, asked for a pre-sentence report and made an application for bail, which Judge Smith granted.

Konia faces a maximum sentence of three months' imprisonment, a $4500 fine and a minimum six months' disqualification for both charges.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES