KEY POINTS:
A drink-driver who drove after one of his car's wheels had been ripped off when he hit a bank thought he only had a flat tyre, Hamilton District Court has been told.
Darrell Leigh Roots, 29, a sickness beneficiary, was driving in Hamilton between 5.45am and 6.55am on April 6 when he failed to make a left-hand turn.
Roots lost control of the car which crossed into the other lane, hit and mounted the kerb and continued across the grass and footpath before crashing into a raised earth embankment.
The crash damaged the car's steering and sheared the right front wheel, the Waikato Times reported.
Roots then drove off the embankment.
He told the police he had had a few beers in town and thought he just had a flat tyre.
A breath test showed Roots was almost double the legal alcohol limit.
In Hamilton District Court yesterday Roots pleaded guilty to drink-driving and careless driving.
He was fined $880 and disqualified from driving for six months.
- NZPA
