Doctor admits drink driving

Pamela Jackson blew a reading of 1028mcg, fractionally more than when she was convicted in 2013. Photo / Supplied

A Dunedin doctor who recorded a breath-alcohol reading more than four times the limit says she only drank two glasses of wine at work and a couple at home.

"Was she talking about two magnums of wine?" Judge Kevin Phillips asked.

Pamela Margaret Jackson, 49, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday having admitted the charge - her second such conviction.

On December 9, a member of the public watched the paediatrician "staggering" to a bin to dispose of alcohol containers in Portsmouth Dr.

They were so concerned, they followed the woman to her Waverley home and called police, who breathalysed her.

Jackson blew a reading of 1028mcg, fractionally more than when she was convicted in 2013.

The judge said he was confident from the material before him that she had been drinking while behind the wheel and had stopped to dispose of the evidence when she was spotted.

The court heard yesterday the Medical Council had imposed rigorous measures so the defendant could continue practising.

Counsel Werner van Harselaar said his client had completed a 30-day residential rehab programme and was regularly attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Jackson also had a machine at home which tested alcohol levels and took a photo of the user.

"She's trying to do everything she possibly can," van Harselaar said.

Phillips said the drink-driving was just "the tip of the iceberg".

"Before 2015 she had been brought to task about alcohol consumption in her practice," he said. Van Harselaar clarified that the incidents investigated by the Medical Council included her having work drinks and then returning to her practice.

The judge believed it was "very surprising" Jackson was still allowed to work as a paediatrician.

While it was submitted the defendant was truly sorry, Phillips did not agree. "She's remorseful about the predicament she's in," he said.

Jackson was sentenced to nine months' supervision, four months' community detention on a weekend curfew, 250 hours' community work and disqualified from driving indefinitely.