Comedian Gadsby fined for drink driving

Comedian Jon Gadsby has been fined $700 after admitting a drink driving offence in Herne Bay.

The 51-year-old co-star of McPhail and Gadsby and other sitcoms pleaded guilty in Auckland District Court yesterday to driving with 703 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

The legal limit is 400.

Judge John Hole also ordered Gadsby to pay $130 court costs.

However, the judge accepted that there were special reasons not to disqualify him from driving.

Gadsby was stopped at a police checkpoint at 8.50pm on December 7, 2002.

His lawyer, barrister Barry Hart, told the court that Gadsby's wife had been driving but stopped when the couple had an altercation.

Gadsby took over but travelled only a short distance before he was caught by the road block.

Mr Hart said that Gadsby had not been drinking for five hours.

He said the couple could not understand how the breath test reading was so high.

"His wife would not have driven with him if she had known it was anything like that," Mr Hart told the judge.

"It is not a case where he has had a complete skinful and took the risk."

Prosecutor Sergeant Craig Kitto said that Gadsby had no previous convictions.

- NZPA