He was also disqualified from driving for the mandatory 28 days required to get an alcohol interlock licence.
The 49-year-old rest home cook had earlier admitted a charge of drink-driving while on a zero alcohol licence after he was stopped at a police checkpoint just before Christmas last year.
A subsequent blood test showed he had 68 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. In normal circumstances, the legal limit is 50mg, but in Styles’ case, it was meant to be zero.
He challenged the police statement that it was the result of him having consumed three litres of cider; and that it was possible they had misheard him due to his speech impediment, his lawyer Mark Dollimore told the court.
“He’d had a few glasses but not three litres,” Dollimore said.
Styles’ most recent prior drink-drive offence was in April 2019, when he was convicted on a charge of driving with excess breath alcohol on a third or subsequent occasion and issued with the zero alcohol licence.
Prior to that, Styles was caught drunk driving in December 2016, which was 13 years after an initial conviction in 2003.
The court heard today how the catalyst for Styles’ latest court appearance was an accident last August when he fell down the stairs at home while holding a glass, which broke in his hand.
Dollimore said the resulting injuries meant he had come close to losing his hand. It also meant time away from a job he enjoyed as a cook at a rest home, which in turn triggered a loss of social contact, and he began drinking again.
He said Styles had since taken the initiative to help himself, including paying around $2000 for some of his own rehabilitation, but it had been curtailed by the mockery he had endured over his speech impediment.
Judge Rielly acknowledged Styles had voluntarily left the rehabilitation programme two-thirds of the way through.
“The prevailing issue here is his speech impediment, and while he had help in primary school he’s had none since, and it’s a very big issue for him,” Dollimore said.
He said probation services did not have funding to cover the cost of speech therapy, and he had therefore tracked down a private therapist willing to offer help at a reduced rate.
Judge Rielly said in sentencing Styles that the overwhelming theme around his vulnerabilities were his “significant physical issues” due to a lifelong illness and significant psychological and psycho-social stressors that had impacted him.
She said that had greatly impacted his sense of wellbeing which had affected his ability to abstain from drinking.
“You are a very open and honest person and that shines through,” Judge Rielly said.
“Sadly, you are living a life which has become a bit of a vicious cycle of using alcohol to numb the psychological issues you suffer from, because of your physical issues, but then excess use of alcohol exacerbates how you feel about yourself, and in making bad judgements, especially driving while under the influence of alcohol.”
The judge noted that Styles was lost without his driver’s licence, which led to him facing the prospect of losing his home through not being able to get to work and earn enough to pay his mortgage.
“All of that is relevant to your personal circumstances, which are difficult, but what I cannot ignore is the community’s interest and trying to ensure people who repeatedly drink and drive are appropriately sentenced, because of the risk they pose to themselves and others.”
The sentence of intensive supervision contained special conditions, including that Styles attends speech therapy and alcohol and drug counselling.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
