Six-time drink-driver will go to prison if caught again, says judge

A judge has told a Marlborough man that he will go to prison if he is caught drink-driving again.

Terry Warren Karaitiana, 52, clocked up his sixth drink-drive conviction after he was pulled over in Blenheim late last year and blew almost three times the limit.

His previous drink-driving convictions were in 1988, 1991, 2004, 2005 and 2007.

A police summary of facts said on December 7, 2022, Karaitiana was driving on Middle Renwick Rd in Blenheim and was stopped and spoken to police, who said he exhibited signs of recent alcohol consumption. He had been seen pulling out of Springlands Tavern and onto Boyce St just before that.

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Karaitiana underwent a breath test, which read 741 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit is 250mcg.

At his sentencing at the Blenheim District Court on Monday, his lawyer Laurie Murdoch said Karaitiana had “all the (driving) licences you can get”, and that he would have to resit the licences once his driving disqualification period ended.

“That will be costly,” Murdoch said.

Judge Tony Zohrab said the alcohol per litre of breath levels from the 52-year-old’s past drink-driving convictions were “not the most extreme types, but certainly quite high”.

“Most New Zealanders manage to see out their whole driving career without any drink-drive charges. This is conviction number six for you,” Judge Zohrab said.

Before sentencing Karaitiana, Judge Zohrab said he had to “balance a number of things”.

“I’ve got to balance your interests, but also have to balance the interests of members of the public that have been sharing the road with you whilst you’ve been affected by alcohol, and that certainly makes you a risk on our roads,” he said.

“I’m going to treat your offending today as an isolated lapse, as opposed to part of the same old, same old, but I will be putting it as a final warning on your record. If you’re back again for drinking and driving, you’ll be going to prison.”

Karaitiana was sentenced to 12 months’ intensive supervision with special conditions to attend and complete an appropriate drink-driving programme and to attend an assessment for alcohol and drug counselling.

He was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of 12 months and 1 day, which would be backdated to when he entered his guilty plea to the charge on December 12 last year.