After taking police on a drunken chase in which he "drifted" around Dunedin’s student quarter, Archie Jacob Quintin Mitchell said he felt unlucky to have been caught.
But after attending The Right Track rehabilitation programme, the 20-year-old student told the Dunedin District Court he had changed his mind.
"I was lucky I was caught. It’s changed my life," he said.
Mitchell said his friend had died in a car accident and he had "learned a lot".
On June 21, he was convicted of drink-driving in the Oamaru District Court and subsequently disqualified from driving for six months.
In breach of that sentence, he was behind the wheel of Subaru Impreza at midnight on October 22.
After performing a U-turn in Dundas St, Mitchell lost control and swerved across the centre line, almost hitting a police car head-on.
He turned into Clyde St without indicating, cutting the corner and straying into the wrong lane, a police summary said.
The defendant took speed bumps and intersections without slowing and when police activated lights and sirens, he accelerated.
In Forth St, Mitchell intentionally drifted his vehicle across the centre line and through a give way before turning off his headlights and performing a similar loss of traction in Union St East.
Officers saw him narrowly avoid clipping parked vehicles on either side of the road.
Mitchell then performed a final skidding manouevre, drifting for 155m, after which he was captured on CCTV pulling up outside a Leith St apartment complex.
Police found him minutes later and he gave a breath-alcohol reading of 718mcg.
The legal limit is 250mcg.
"In explanation, the defendant stated that he was travelling to see a friend and couldn’t be bothered to walk," court documents said.
Counsel Andy Belcher said his client had "undergone a complete sea-change in his attitude" since that night.
Judge Robinson asked the student how he would avoid such a scenario in future.
"It isn’t rocket science," Mitchell said.
"It’s not hard to make sure your phone’s charged before you go out, or schedule an Uber ... just a little bit of common sense, a little bit of maturity."
He was convicted of drink-driving, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and failing to stop for police.
Mitchell was sentenced to 75 hours’ community work and banned from driving for 28 days, after which alcohol-interlock provisions would apply.
