Teacher admits being four-times over drink-drive limit

A west Auckland school teacher was sentenced to community work today after pleading guilty to driving while four-times over the legal breath alcohol limit.

Joanna Winifred Wright, 48, was stopped by police in Auckland in March this year.

A breath test revealed the Bruce McLaren Intermediate School teacher had 1583 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit is 400 micrograms.

Wright was sentenced to 200 hours of community work, disqualified from driving for 18 months, and given a final warning in the Auckland District Court.

Bruce Maclaren Intermediate School principal David Cricker said Wright had been on leave since the incident and would not be returning to work at the school.

Outside Auckland District Court Wright said she thought her sentence was fair.

"I think it's very fair and I think in the long run it's going to help me very much with my recovery," she said.

Wright has two previous drink-driving convictions, one in 1997 following her marriage break-up, and another in 2000.

Her lawyer Peter Boylan said Wright had earlier opted to defend her drink-driving charge, but today she entered a guilty plea.

He said Wright had a defence case with respect to the validity of the alcohol breath test, but "she's reflected and she wants to take responsibility for her actions".

Wright had undergone an alcohol rehabilitation programme through the Salvation Army.

The judge credited Wright for her commitment to the programme as well as the praise she had received from colleagues and students' parents.

The judge said she clearly had an alcohol problem. Most people would not be able to function with the amount of alcohol she was caught driving with in her system.

"I've felt a lot of regret about the people I've impacted on, students in my class, my colleagues, my employer and my family, in particular my own children," Wright said afterwards.

"I've been given a lot of tools through the [Salvation Army] programme to help run my life in an alcohol-free manner.

"I just think that it is important if you make a mistake that you need to take the steps to rectify it and I would thank all involved for the support they have given me."

- NZPA