A Waimahaka farm worker assaulted an ambulance officer after a drunken crash, then seriously injured himself in another drunken crash five months later.
Dylan Mark Hair (27) was driving in Edendale-Wyndham Rd on August 1 last year when he misjudged a bend and veered into gravel on the left-hand shoulder of the road.
He overcorrected, swerved into the opposite lane and rolled before coming to rest in a paddock.
When a St John ambulance arrived at the scene, Hair behaved aggressively and refused to co-operate.
As an ambulance officer leaned over him to assess his injuries, the defendant punched him in the chest.
Other emergency services staff had to restrain him so he could be treated and, as he was driven to Southland Hospital, Hair continually abused the victim and another ambulance officer.
A blood specimen taken at the hospital showed an alcohol level of 283mg, more than five times the legal limit.
He admitted to police he had drunk "five or six beers" before getting behind the wheel.
Five months later, about 12.30am on January 1, Hair was driving on the Tokanui-Gorge Rd Highway, Fortrose, when he again misjudged a bend and hit roadside gravel.
As the vehicle spun out of control, it struck a power pole with such force the pole snapped, and he was taken to Dunedin Hospital with severe injuries.
A blood specimen gave an alcohol result of 296mg, nearly six times the legal limit.
Hair was sentenced in the Gore District Court yesterday on the assault charge, his fourth and fifth drink-driving convictions and two charges of careless driving.
Judge John Brandts-Giesen said the defendant had suffered serious head injuries in the second crash and was experiencing memory loss and other issues that left him unable to work and likely to be "heavily reliant on family members for years to come".
The assault on the ambulance officer was clearly alcohol-induced, the judge said.
"You’re pretty stupid when you’re drunk.
"You now have problems of a permanent nature. Don’t make them worse with the use of alcohol or non-prescribed drugs."
He convicted Hair and disqualified him from driving for 20 months, ordered him to pay a total of $1509 in reparation and imposed seven months’ home detention at an Invercargill address to enable intervention for his alcohol issues.
