Judge's daughter caught drink driving

Amy Woolford, the daughter of a High Court judge, pleaded guilty to drink driving.

The daughter of a High Court judge, who overturned the Maori King's son's discharge without conviction for drink driving, was caught driving over the limit.

Amy Elizabeth Woolford, 22, was stopped by police on Great South Rd in the suburb of Greenlane on March 15 where she was found behind the wheel at more than three times the legal breath-alcohol limit.

She is the oldest daughter of Justice Mark Woolford, who has sat in the High Court at Auckland since 2010.

Amy Woolford blew a reading of 817 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - the legal limit is 250.

She pleaded guilty to the charge on her first appearance before Auckland District Court last week and was fined $800 by Community Magistrate Janet Holmes.

The magistrate also banned Amy Woolford for driving for six months - the mandatory minimum.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman refused to pass on the Herald's questions to the judge and warned that it would be "highly inappropriate" to seek comment at the family's Epsom home.

Amy Woolford did not respond to online messages.

Her father was previously appointed Second Secretary to the New Zealand High Commission in Singapore and in 1985 he was the New Zealand Representative to the Legal Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

More recently Justice Woolford was a Crown prosecutor and partner at Meredith Connell before being appointed to the bench.

He has adjudicated several high-profile cases and was the judge who overturned the Maori King's son's discharge without conviction on a drink-driving charge.

"I am not satisfied that a conviction for drink driving would meaningfully decrease his chances of becoming the next Maori King, or have any other consequence out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence. A drink driving conviction is a black mark, but not an irredeemable one," he said.