Another classic from
The Ministry of Silly Rules
Te Tari Porangi Aotearoa

Maybe it’s not strictly the Ministry of Silly Rules, but the following story from the July 26 Nelson Evening Mail has left United Future’s Kaikoura candidate Robin Westley utterly flabbergasted.

“A 46-year-old Motueka iwi consultant has avoided going to jail for his fifth drinkdriving offence after explaining he drank because he was upset at seeing his ancestors' bones being dug up.

The defence lawyer said the man had for some time before this been involved in monitoring-type work which meant that he effectively saw the digging up of bones of his ancestors.

"That caused him quite some disquiet." The judge said the man’s alcohol reading was measured at 1040 micrograms per litre of breath. The legal limit is 400 mics.

On all the previous occasions Park had been convicted his alcohol reading was more than twice the legal limit. Six years had passed since his last drink-driving conviction, the judge said.

He sentenced Park to 300 hours community work, and disqualified him from driving for 18 months, with a final warning. “ Robin Westley comments “I wonder how upset he might have been at seeing the body parts of people he could have killed while driving drunk.”

At United Future we reckon it is high time to bring back some common sense.

ENDS

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