A few beers before driving home has landed a Balclutha man behind bars.
But John Ruffell knew he was running that risk — he had been caught drink-driving eight times before.
The 69-year-old appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday and was jailed for 17 months.
The court heard the defendant had racked up eight drink-driving convictions between 1986 and 2020.
On December 3 he was stopped by police and blew 441mcg despite being on a zero-alcohol licence.
He told police he knew he was on a zero-alcohol licence, but had ‘‘a few beers after work’’.
Yesterday the court heard Ruffell did not believe he had a problem with alcohol.
But family members described him as ‘‘grumpy and impatient’’ without a drink and aggressive towards his grandchildren.
Judge David Robinson said the eight months behind bars for his last conviction in 2020 did little to deter him.
‘‘You’ve been given the privilege of being able to drive, but you’ve continued to make dangerous choices.’’
He did not think home detention would be enough to protect the public or stop Ruffell from drinking.
‘‘You’ve been described as ‘living in your own world in a garage where you can drink and smoke and have your friends visit’,’’ the judge said.
‘‘I just don’t think you’re at the stage where you realise there’s a problem.’’
Ruffell wrote a letter to the judge saying he should not be imprisoned because of the cost to the taxpayer.
But the judge told him the cost of a life was much higher.
The defendant said he was not happy with himself for the situation he had ended up in, but the judge did not detect genuine remorse.
He sentenced Ruffell to 17 months’ imprisonment.
Ruffell was also disqualified for 28 days with alcohol-interlock and zero-alcohol licence provisions to follow.
