When Joanne Lee Souquet crashed her car with three children inside, while more than five times over the alcohol limit, she said she would “never ever” drink again.
Sixteen years later, the 53-year-old broke her promise.
Souquet appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after accruing her fourth drink-driving conviction.
And this time she was even more intoxicated than the last.
The court heard Souquet was seen by police driving in High St on the wrong side of the road and pulled over.
She was transported to the nearby central police station and gave a blood sample of 278mg — nearly six times the legal limit.
“You were thoroughly intoxicated and incapable of maintaining proper control of a motor vehicle,” Judge David Robinson said.
“This was a crash waiting to happen. You’re lucky you weren’t hurt or that you didn’t hurt or maim someone else.”
The court heard Souquet was first convicted of drink-driving in 1999, followed shortly after by another, both of which were “high levels”, the judge noted.
Her third offence came in 2008 when she was driving in Mailer St with her two daughters and another school-aged child.
She veered left and collided with a parked car, causing moderate damage to both vehicles, the court heard.
At her sentencing, the defendant’s lawyer said the experience had resulted in Souquet swearing off alcohol.
“She wants me to assure the court and give her word she will never, ever return to drinking,” counsel said.
Judge Robinson this week said it was only the interval between the two most recent offences that saved Souquet from a jail stint.
“If I saw you back on another drink-driving, the start point and likely end point would be a term of imprisonment,” he said.
“It would be the only measure I had left to ensure the safety of the community.”
Souquet was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision and fined $900.
She was banned from driving for 28 days after which alcohol-interlock rules applied.