“When you’re lonely…you cling to the things that bring you comfort”
A drunk driver trapped after overturning his car cracked open another can of beer while he waited for emergency crews to rescue him, a New Zealand court was told.
Paul Nigel Sneddon, 47, pleaded guilty to careless driving and drunken driving after being nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit in a district court in the city of Palmerston North.
Police found Sneddon, a former baker, trapped in his overturned Ford Laser on June 1, drinking a can of beer after he failed to take a corner properly and crashed through a wooden barrier, flipping his vehicle.
Defense lawyer Peter Young said that when Sneddon found he could not open the doors, “he had nothing else to do at that point, so he had another beer.”
When asked by police how much he had consumed, Sneddon replied: “Plenty, I’ve been drinking for four days straight.”
Judge Gregory Ross fined him $780 and disqualified him from driving for 10 months. It was his first offence.
Anyone taking bets on whether or not it will be his last offence?