'Potential killer'

Tiffany Marie Paku, 29, was convicted of driving with excess alcohol and was fined $600 with $100 court costs and was disqualified from driving for six months.

When Tiffany Marie Paku's partner realised she was heading out in the car he tried to stop her but she ignored him.

The judge told her she could have killed someone driving with the level of alcohol she had in her system at the time.

The 29-year-old was stopped at an alcohol checkpoint on High St a short time later about 9.15pm on October 5, and blew an alcohol reading of 642 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

She pleaded guilty to the charge when she appeared before Judge Stephen Harrop in Masterton District Court.

Defence lawyer Ian Hard said she under-estimated how much she had had to drink.

Prosecutor Sergeant Jodi Lawrence told the court her family had tried to stop her from leaving. "Her partner did not want her to drive," she said.

Judge Harrop said it was extremely dangerous for her to have got behind the wheel of a car with an alcohol reading above 400mcg - the legal limit for an adult driver.

"You are a potential killer on the road at this level. You were told not to drive but you drove anyway.

"When people get drunk their ability to drive and their judgment is impaired," he said.

He fined Paku $600 and $130 court costs and disqualified her from driving for six months.