Judge Bill Hastings said in sentencing him today that Ellis\u2019 life \u201ccame unstuck\u201d with the end of his marriage in 2015, the loss of friends who had died and the news a beloved pet would have to be euthanised.<\/p>\n
He had self-medicated his grief with alcohol and doubled his anxiety medication to cope.<\/p>\n
\u201cI agree it was not the best course of action – in fact it was probably the worst course of action,\u201d Judge Hastings said.<\/p>\n
Ellis credited Alcohol and Addiction services in Nelson for helping him through his latest decline, which landed him back in court.<\/p>\n
He described the service as \u201cincredible\u201d and said he had learned to deploy a technique called \u201cwhite knuckling\u201d when he felt like having a drink.<\/p>\n
The method encouraged a person to remain sober through \u201csheer force of will\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the right support around me now, which is really good.\u201d Ellis said.<\/p>\n
Paul Ellis told NZME outside the Nelson District Court, before sentencing on his latest drink drive charge, that it was a “bad day” on which he made bad choices. Photo \/ Tracy Neal<\/p>\n
Judge Hastings noted a comment from a counsellor who said, \u201cPaul knows recovery is a journey and not a destination\u201d.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, he was found behind the wheel with a breath alcohol reading <\/a>of an \u201cextraordinarily high\u201d 1688 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, which was 6.7 times the legal limit of 250mcg, for drivers aged 20 and over.<\/p>\n He was also a disqualified driver, and was disqualified again today, indefinitely.<\/p>\n Ellis had pleaded guilty in May to drink driving on a third or subsequent time. <\/p>\n Drunken crash was an \u2018oversight\u2019<\/p>\n According to the summary of facts, police tracked Ellis down <\/a>on the morning of February 21 this year after a report that someone had collided with a parked vehicle in the Nelson<\/a> suburb of T\u0101hunanui.<\/p>\n Police said they followed a clear trail of vehicle fluid from the crash-damaged vehicle that led directly to the front passenger wheel of Ellis\u2019 vehicle, which was parked on a nearby street.<\/p>\n Ellis, exhibiting signs that he had been drinking, admitted he was a disqualified driver.<\/p>\n An evidential breath test showed a reading which was 6.7 times the limit.<\/p>\n The 62-year-old told the police that at the time he had been living in his car at Nelson\u2019s Isel Park. He had been drinking wine but the crash was an \u201coversight\u201d he had not been aware of.<\/p>\n He subsequently found an address in Nelson where he has been living for several months.<\/p>\n From a starting point of a year in prison, Ellis was given discounts for his early guilty pleas and for steps taken so far to help himself.<\/p>\n The sentence of home detention included special conditions that he attend and complete more counselling and treatment for addiction.<\/p>\n Not his first time driving while drunk<\/p>\n The offending followed a series of similar in Marlborough from 2018 to 2023 when he was caught driving while disqualified, on the back of drink-driving convictions. <\/p>\n In November 2023 he was convicted in the Blenheim District Court for driving while disqualified, fined $400 and given a six-month disqualification.<\/p>\n He was also granted leave to apply for an alcohol interlock licence<\/a> at the time. But, police said he failed to do this, which meant that when he was caught in February this year, he was still driving as a disqualified driver.<\/p>\n Ellis was also convicted in the same court in June 2018 on two separate charges, 10 days apart, of driving with excess blood alcohol.<\/p>\n He was convicted again in May 2022 on a charge of driving with excess breath alcohol for a third or subsequent time.<\/p>\n Ellis was born in Timaru but grew up in Picton<\/a>, and moved back to the region in 2020 when he helped organise the Linkwater Summer Sounds Music Festivals.<\/p>\nPaul Ellis in brighter days at a New Zealand music function. Photo \/ Norrie Montgomery<\/p>\n