'Blind drunk' driver escapes jail

A Whakatane man who drove with a breath alcohol level more than four times the legal limit was a "potential time-bomb", a judge said this week.

Charles McRoy, 51, went to Whakatane District Court on Wednesday with his bag packed in anticipation of a prison sentence for his seventh drink-driving charge.

Judge Louis Bidois considered imprisonment but decided McRoy was suitable for home detention and sentenced him to four months, plus 140 hours community work.

McRoy was also sentenced to one concurrent month home detention for driving while disqualified, and was given a further disqualification of nine months and 100 hours community work.

He was pulled over in Whakatane in February after police received complaints about his erratic driving.

A breathalyser revealed he had 1613 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - the legal limit is 400mg.

"This was a very high reading - at 1600 you are not only drunk, you're blind drunk," the judge said.

"You posed a danger to every other road user."

McRoy's last conviction for drink-driving was 16 years ago, in 1994, when he was disqualified indefinitely.

Defence lawyer Rebecca Plunket said since his latest offence her client had given up alcohol and was reaping the benefits.

He had got a job and, for the first time, been able to buy presents for his granddaughter's birthday with money he might have otherwise spent on drink.

"He has taken control of his life and has identified that he is of an age where he should not be behaving like this," Ms Plunket said.

- NZPA