Queenstown man racks up third drink-drive conviction

He drove drunk, he crashed, he urinated in front of a witness, then it was time for a nap.
When police arrived at the scene in Centennial Ave, Alexandra early on March 3, 36-year-old Jonathan Peter Vaughan was asleep in the driver's seat of his Toyota Hilux.

Analysis of a blood sample gave a reading of 203mg — more than four times the limit.

It resulted in his third drink-driving conviction.

Vaughan, a drainlayer from Queenstown, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, where he was sentenced to four months' home detention.

On the night of the crash, he was seen drifting across both lanes of the road as he drove south through the Central Otago town.

One witness told police they had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

Jonathan Vaughan urinated in front of a teenage witness after crashing his vehicle. Photo / Rob Kidd

Vaughan, meanwhile, completed a U-turn and hit a tree.

While the witness was on the phone to police, the defendant got out of his vehicle and the erratic behaviour continued.

"The defendant ... began urinating in front of the 19-year-old female," a court summary of facts said.

"The defendant staggered backwards before getting back into the driver's seat of his vehicle."

Vaughan's conduct did not improve on the way to Dunstan Hospital for a blood test.

He twice tried to push the gear lever of the police car to park while they were travelling at speeds of up to 100kmh.

Officers pushed him away on both occasions.

Vaughan racked up convictions for aggravated drink-driving, careless driving and offensive behaviour over the fiasco.

Three weeks later he drove while suspended, and in May he chalked up charges of intentional damage and threatening to injure.

Vaughan was in the victim's property with a tomahawk, slammed it into the kitchen bench and then damaged a letterbox.

Judge John Macdonald called it "a very angry effort".

Vaughan was also ordered to pay reparation of more than $1000 and banned from driving for a year.

This article was first published in the Otago Daily Times.