Driving ban reversed for sex attack victim

An Auckland woman has had her court-imposed driving ban overturned because she was escaping a sexual assault when she drove her car drunk.

The woman, who cannot be named because she is the victim of a sexual assault, blew 1093 micrograms per litre of breath - the limit is 400 - when she drove away from her deceased parents' home in West Auckland earlier this year, Fairfax Media reported.

After going to bed she was woken by a family member assaulting her so she got in her car and drove off. On Te Atatu Rd she hit a parked car, lost control of her car and crashed over the footpath.

She admitted to police she had been drinking but did not tell them about the indecent assault.

In sentencing her to 100 hours community service and a 12-month disqualification from driving, Judge Thomas Everitt said the public interest must take precedence over the woman's drunken inability to recollect, or whatever was going on once she awoke.

However, the woman appealed her sentence and this month Auckland High Court Judge Paul Heath set aside the 12-month disqualification but increased the community service sentence from 100 to 300 hours.

He upheld her appeal on the grounds the assault would have been traumatic, that she complied with a previous disqualification and because the 12-month disqualification would have had a significant financial impact.

- NZPA