Polishing off a box of 15 beers before driving home could cost a Dunedin man more than $20,000, a court has heard.
Maota Poasa (29) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday where he was ordered to pay $750 to cover the insurance excess of the vehicle he smashed into on February 20.
However, that would not erase the potential of the insurance company pursuing him through the civil courts to recoup its hefty losses.
The defendant, assisted by a Samoan interpreter, could not cite his ignorance of the drink-driving laws.
It was his third such conviction in just four years.
His most recent, two years ago, featured almost identical facts.
Poasa downed a large number of beers after work and crashed — on that occasion into a telegraph pole — on his way home from work early in the morning.
In February, after consuming a 15-box of Speight’s, the auto-parts worker got behind the wheel and was heading along a straight section of Centennial Ave when things went awry.
He veered right, mounted the footpath and slammed his partner’s Toyota into a parked Ford Ranger.
Such was the force of the impact, that vehicle was shunted 15m into a parked Mazda Demio.
Poasa was near the wreckage when police arrived at the scene.
An evidential test gave a breath-alcohol reading of 1033mcg — more than four times the legal limit.
Judge Peter Rollo underscored the seriousness of the "very high level", but he pointed out it was lower than the defendant’s 2019 reading.
Counsel Karlena Lawrence said her client was remorseful and recognised how serious the consequences could have been.
The court heard Poasa had a supportive wife and was a father to two preschool-age children.
The proceedings had taken a huge toll on the family, Ms Lawrence said.
"What’s clear, Mr Poasa, is that your misuse of alcohol will cost you and your family dearly, that’s not just in money to pay for the damage but in the time you won’t be with your family because you’ll need to be working," the judge said.
He imposed 12 months’ supervision to help the defendant overcome his drinking issues as well as three months’ community detention (on a daily 8pm-6am curfew).
Poasa remained banned from driving indefinitely.
