KEY POINTS:
A mother high on methadone was found slumped in her car on a Tauranga street with her five-year-old daughter on the roof and her four-year-old son on the bonnet, a court has been told.
Other motorists had earlier taken evasive action to avoid the car, The Bay of Plenty Times reports.
The mother, 30, a sickness beneficiary, pleaded guilty in Tauranga District Court yesterday to a charge of driving under the influence of drugs. She was granted interim name suppression.
The court was told the woman went to a pharmacy at about 9.30am on September 28 where she took her prescription dose of methadone. She was also given two extra daily doses to be consumed over the next two days.
Methadone is a substitute drug for opiates, prescribed by doctors but often dispensed by pharmacies.
The woman drove off with her two unrestrained children and took one of the extra doses.
As a result of taking the extra methadone, she passed out for about 30 minutes at a service station, leaving her children unsupervised and all the windows open.
The car was then seen being driven on a nearby road where it mounted the kerb and footpath outside Mount Maunganui College.
The woman carried on, the car weaving from side to side before coming to a stop on Maunganui Rd. She was found slumped over the wheel and the children had climbed out the car windows and onto the roof and bonnet.
When officers spoke to her, her speech was slurred and she passed out frequently.
A GP certified that she was under the influence of drugs and incapable of driving any vehicle.
The children were taken into the custody of Child, Youth and Family.
The woman's lawyer, Glenn Dixon, told Judge Peter Rollo that his client was at risk of imprisonment and a pre-sentence report should be called for.
Judge Rollo agreed.
Mr Dixon said his client denied that she took a second dose of methadone or injected herself in the neck but admitted taking another pill, which gave rise to her offending.
The woman was remanded on bail for sentence.
- NZPA
