A repeat drink-driver’s lawyer has successfully argued for a rehabilitative sentence to stop the woman "destroying herself".
At the sentencing of Tracie Lianne Barrett (59) in the Alexandra District Court yesterday on charges of dangerous driving and drink-driving, counsel Kieran Tohill said she was a person of "significant intelligence" who had worked as a journalist in many parts of the world.
Her alcohol abuse was a direct result of child abuse, for which she was having counselling and taking medication.
Barrett was driving in Rockdale Rd, Invercargill, about 2.35pm on September 5 last year when she failed to stop at an intersection with Gorge Rd-Invercargill Highway and crossed the path of a Fulton Hogan ute and trailer that had the right of way.
The ute, carrying two employees, could not avoid her vehicle and struck its left rear, causing it to roll on to its side.
The police summary of facts said the defendant disregarded stop signs at the intersection and two warning signs before it.
A primary school on one corner meant there were also "school ahead" and "school zone" signs before the intersection.
Barrett, who told police she could not remember the crash, was taken to Southland Hospital for assessment, where a blood sample gave an alcohol level of 225mg, more than four times the legal limit.
She admitted the charges at a hearing in November and was convicted.
It is not her first drink-driving offence; she was convicted in May 2021 of driving with a blood-alcohol level of 254mg, and given an alcohol interlock sentence.
Such a sentence is mandatory for repeat drink-drivers or those caught with very high breath or blood alcohol readings.
They require offenders to surrender their licence, apply for the interlock licence and get the device fitted to their car.
However, it emerged at a hearing in January that a clerical error after Barrett’s 2021 sentencing meant her licence was not cancelled.
At yesterday’s hearing, Mr Tohill said the defendant made inquiries about the status of her licence afterwards, and was told on two occasions she could get her full licence back.
He asked Judge Quentin Hix to endorse a pre-sentence report’s recommendation of a period of supervision to support the rehabilitation process Barrett had already begun.
"I would implore the court to take that option, because it has the effect of stopping her essentially destroying herself."
Judge Hix told Barrett the report was interesting for its description of her diverse working experiences, extensive travel and a friend’s characterisation of her as "resilient".
His impression was her offending had been a reaction to significant personal stresses rather than an ongoing pattern of behaviour.
He sentenced her to 12 months’ intensive supervision, and urged her to promptly apply for an alcohol interlock licence. She must pay a blood analysis fee of $111.99.
Barrett was formerly employed at the Otago Daily Times.
