Drunk driver 'should have been unconscious'

A man who drove with what Judge Dominic Flatley thought was the highest breath alcohol level he had ever seen, "should have been unconscious", the judge said yesterday in the Dunedin District Court.

When 40-year-old Craig Andrew Dillon, of Abbotsford appeared before him in the Queenstown court last November, a few days after driving with a breath alcohol of 1540mcg - almost four times the legal limit - and crashing into two cars parked outside the local primary school, Judge Flatley asked him what he was thinking.

And he said yesterday Dillon was very lucky not to have had a nasty accident and injured or killed someone.

Dillon had admitted charges of drink-driving and driving dangerously in Robins Rd on November 10 last year.

After stopping for children at a pedestrian crossing, he had continued driving and veered into two parked cars. He told police he "blacked out" after stopping at the crossing.

Since the incident, Dillon had completed the Salvation Army Bridge treatment programme, counsel Mike Newell told the court. He was due for surgery to an injured knee and had been taking painkillers. He then started drinking.

When he realised his marriage was deteriorating, Dillon recognised his alcohol consumption was a problem. He was also suffering from depression. He had been hoping his marriage could be retrieved and the driving offences occurred after a joint counselling session with his wife. The defendant now realised his marriage had ended, Mr Newell told the court.

Judge Flatley said the 1540mcg breath alcohol was the highest reading he had seen and he could not believe Dillon had been able to drive a car at that level.

Imposing sentence, he said he took into account the 71 days Dillon had spent in a residential treatment programme and sentenced him to 12 months' intensive supervision. That would confirm what the defendant had already achieved and require him to continue with counselling and treatment. The judge said he would also call for reports and monitor the defendant's progress with his sentence.

As well as intensive supervision, Dillon was fined $750 on each charge, with $132.89 court costs on one charge and concurrent driving bans of 14 months. The judge also ordered payment of $1541 reparation to the Queenstown Primary School and $300 to each of the vehicle owners to "hopefully" cover their insurance excess.