Vodka buyer fined $750 after boy in coma

A 13-year-old boy airlifted to hospital in a coma after drinking three-quarters of a bottle of vodka bought for him by an adult could easily have died, a judge said this week.

In Nelson District Court, Judge Richard Russell fined 22-year-old Lance Seymour Sowerby, of Motueka, after he pleaded guilty to buying alcohol to supply to a minor, the Nelson Mail reported.

Sowerby was at a Motueka liquor store in January when the boy asked him to buy alcohol for him and a friend, police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Stringer said.

Sowerby bought a bottle of vodka and the boy drank three-quarters of it.

He lapsed into a coma and was flown by rescue helicopter to Nelson Hospital, where he made a full recovery.

Fining Sowerby $750, Judge Russell said: "This young man could have been killed as a result of what you did".