At just 20 years of age, we get this driver.

Another weak, gutless and brainless judge.

Was the warden offering to recoup his lost wages for attending the meeting?

Or was the warden expecting the victim to suffer more injustice on top of the original intentionally inflicted criminal activity. ?

And on it goes - from another Police comms email;

???In the first incident a member of the public rang Police on Sunday night reporting the concerning behaviour of a man driving on SH1 north of Huntly.

???The offending driver had cut a motorist off and was weaving between lanes.

When stopped by Police driving at 118km/h the driver asked who cares about the motorists he??

What worries me is that these sorts of drivers probably knowingly drive when well over the limit. I can sympathise with the TV ad where the lady has reputedly only had 2 drinks but is deemed over the limit, but to blow 921mgs?

The OP, 3 times over the limit? 12 months behind bars (not those bars!) and the last three months doing Friday and Saturday night 12 hour stints at the local A & E before being locked up again, should be mandatory for all DiC offences where they are more than say 50% above the limit.

Car confiscated and sold to recoup court and prison accommodation costs. Don't crush cars - unless they are wrecks. Sell or dismantle.

No second chances.

"Driving Mums Toyota Corolla?" Too bad.

Why don't many of us refuse to drink and drive? Because right from an early age, the thought of losing our licences and/or being involved in an accident terrified us. I was scared of the consequences then - and still am, 50 years later.

Confiscating cars and removing driving licences doesnt generally work on the worst recidivist drink drivers - they just buy another wreck or steal a car, and drive whether they have a licence or not. Making them do stints at A+E wont sink in either, these people really are unreachable in a way normal humans arent.

Prison is the only thing that works. Possibly compulsory treatment programmes with daily injections of antabuse or something similar might be another option though?

Totally get what you are saying about being scared of the consequences of a DIC, I am too - but then we are normal people

And here's the latest muppet, texting by the sound of it;

At approximately 1am on Thursday 24 December 2015, Police and other emergency services were called to a multi-vehicle crash on the Northern Motorway, just north of the Waimakariri Bridge.

The driver of a southbound vehicle has crossed over the grass median strip and has collided with the front of a northbound truck and trailer unit, spinning off and then colliding with another northbound stationwagon.
No one was injured in the crash, but the highway was blocked for over two hours while the scene was cleared.

The 20 year old male driver of the offending vehicle will appear in court on driving matters early next year.

Excessive speed and driver inattention were factors in this crash, which was entirely preventable and it was only a matter of luck that death or serious injury was avoided.

And then there's this piece of shit;

???At about 8.30am today members of the public contacted Police in relation to the behaviour of a 37-year-old male driver.

This man was stopped in his utility on Studholme St and breathalysed by our staff, returning a breath test result of 1020mgs, the legal limit for an adult driver is 250mgs.

???As is to be expected the man was processed for excess breath alcohol and had his keys taken off him as he was now subject to a 28 day driving suspension so image my staffs??

Whenwe lived in napier in the early 1970,s thelocal magistrate ,i wont mention his name but rumour had it his daughter had been killedby a drunk driver He would fine DIC drivers $1000 with 12 months loss of licence and the warning if you offend again you will go to jail and dont even think of applying for a Partial licence,if your licence is so important you should have been more careful with it. In this "enlightened age the fine seems to be $500 and 6 months loss of licence and if you are a continual offender a month or 2 of home detention.!

You are right, we have gone backwards. If only all the judiciary were like your unnamed local magistrate. Perhaps some type of personal experience of this sort should be a prerequisite for selection

Neither of those things were allowed for by the legislation of the time.