Drink driver had children in her car

File photo / NZ Herald

A Tauranga mother caught drink-driving with her four children in the car after she drove through an alcohol check-point, almost hitting a police officer, has avoided jail.

Crystal Dawn Bond, 28, who earlier pleaded guilty to charges of failing to stop for red and blue beacons, dangerous driving and driving with excess breath alcohol, was sentenced to nine months' home detention when she appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday.

She was also sentenced to 200 hours' community work and indefinitely disqualified from driving.

The court was told that Bond clocked up her third drink-driving offence in the early hours of October 28 this year after she failed to stop at a compulsory breath test checkpoint set up on 11th Avenue.

Bond, who had her four children aged between 8 and 11 years with her, drove through the checkpoint at about 50km/h, then sped up once she passed it.

A constable standing in the middle of the road had to take evasive action and a police pursuit was launched for about one kilometre until Bond stopped, after reaching speeds of 70 km/h in a 50 km/h zone.

Police caught up with Bond at the Fraser St lights after she started to slow down, and eventually stopped outside the address she was heading to.

Her children were all crying and upset.

When breathalysed she was found to have an excess breath alcohol of 1062 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - more than double the adult legal limit of 400mcg.

Bond does not have a driving licence and has two previous drink-driving convictions in 2007 and 2009 which were both almost double the legal limit.

Her lawyer Olivia Brittain urged Judge Thomas Ingram to impose community detention or home detention given the rehabilitative steps her client had taken since this latest offending.

Judge Ingram told Bond that he had only two choices in terms of sentence.

"I have given real consideration in putting you in jail. A woman like you who puts your children and other people at risk like you did, and behaves the way you do in my view you are a disgrace."