Tauranga doctor Lisa Edwards is convicted of drink driving after losing her in court fight to be discharged without conviction.
She appeared before Judge Louis Bidois in Tauranga District Court for sentencing today.
Doctor Lisa Edwards rushes to a waiting car after being convicted of drink driving in Tauranga District Court.
Edwards was charged with drink driving after being stopped in her Mercedes at a police checkpoint on Totara Street in Mount Maunganui on July 30, 2010.
Her breath alcohol level was 876 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath – more than twice the legal limit.
When she appeared for sentencing on March 29, Judge Louis Bidois decided not to enter a conviction so her lawyer Bill Nabney had time to enter submissions for a discharge without conviction.
Bill sought the discharge, described by the crown as a ‘Campese sidestep', because he believed it would seriously impact his client's career.
Judge Bidois heard those submissions today, but was not convinced Edwards' career prospects in New Zealand or overseas, would be greatly compromised.
Bill Nabney argued his client earned about 81 per cent of her income carrying out locum work offshore, mainly in Australia.
A drink driving conviction would not stop her entering Australia, but Bill argued it would reduce her chances of being hired.
'She can get registered, but when going for a position, it's less likely if she has this conviction.
'It will make placement difficult, if not impossible,” Nabney told the court.
Judge Bidois told Edwards that her position as a doctor clearly illustrated she was intelligent, hardworking and was an achiever.
'But in your case, as a doctor, it would have been well known a drink driving conviction would have far reaching consequences,” he says.
'For you to have driven on this particular night was a mistake. It was a serious error in judgement.”
Lisa was caught drink driving while trying to travel from a Mount Maunganui bar to her home across the bridge in central Tauranga.
'This was not a case of driving a short distance. The gravity is therefore high.”
Judge Bidois says Lisa's case is no different to a truck driver who may get caught drink driving.
'A truck driver is just as important as a doctor. It's just a matter of a degree.”
Officer in charge of Western Bay of Plenty traffic alcohol group, Sergeant Dan Roser, was the officer who stopped and breath tested Edwards last year.
He and other officers were in court for sentencing.
She was fined $900 and court costs, and disqualified from driving for six months.
She rushed to a waiting car afterwards, wearing dark sunglasses and cap.
13 comments
Choices we make...
Posted on 29-04-2011 18:16 | By silent no more
This person made a choice to 'Drink Drive' and knows from her current occupation the consequences of this... she therefore must accept the consequences of this choice.
tall poppy syndrome
Posted on 29-04-2011 20:33 | By The author of this comment has been removed.
Enough already...anti alcohol fundamentalism is so rife these days.There was no accident,,,no victim...leave the poor woman alone please.News???????
Reading was 876 micrograms
Posted on 30-04-2011 07:52 | By Hebegeebies
For better or worse this is the correct result and she should not have been discharged without conviction nor for that matter should Phil Rudd of AC DC--this just shows double standards are applied and it looks like we need someone to judge the judges on these nonsensical outcomes.
INSULT TO CAMPO!
Posted on 30-04-2011 08:30 | By WORMTONGUE
She is a doctor, that means that there was a brain operating (at some point in time anyway) she knew what she was doing, she know the consequence of an accident and so on, she knew what would happen if caught. End result why ask to be treated especially well just becasue she is a Doctor? At that rate we would not need the courts for anything.
Justice for all ?
Posted on 30-04-2011 10:19 | By bigted
Judges attitude:Ho Hum... Take your medicine just like the rest. EVERYONE has the right to plead not guilty irrespective of status.
For the record
Posted on 30-04-2011 15:39 | By gducat
I have always thought a conviction assisted you in getting to Australia.
Stupid woman
Posted on 30-04-2011 16:26 | By CJ
Can we really make it any clearer -DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!!!
To cronic cynic...
Posted on 30-04-2011 17:31 | By bryceh
and others! Let this be a lesson to all who think they are any more or less important than the rest of us. To cronic cynic.. "Anti alcohol fundamentalism..?" - You are a complete idiot! I wonder if you would have the same bloody attitude if it were your daughter or son, or grandmother DEAD .... And you want to talk about fundamentalism? What about the people like me, who will dial 111 on their mobile, at even the slightest hint of a drunk behind the wheel of a car I see! I personally think that any ****** that consciously decides to get in a car and drive after drinking, should have whatever car they are driving, CONFISCATED, and CRUSHED!
cancel appointment
Posted on 01-05-2011 07:06 | By obi-wan
I'm glad she's not my doctor. Hopefuuly the same errors of judgment aren't employed in her practice.
Is it realy that bad?
Posted on 01-05-2011 17:50 | By Rossco
Tauranga police district statistics make grim reading. Over the past five years, 3995 locals have clocked up 4627 convictions for drink driving - that's an average of 925 a year, or 2.5 convictions a day. 925 drink driving conviction per year for the Tauranga district multiplied by all of the countries districts, what would that add up to? Around four hundred a year die on our roads not all alcohol related. About two thousand die a year as a result of cancer.
Justice
Posted on 05-05-2011 13:31 | By morepork
We can all agree she was guilty. The next question is what we do about it. Should the Courts punish people and if so, to what end? As a deterrent? Should we just have the death penalty for anyone who breaks the Law? That would be a presumably excellent deterrent. (Except that it wasn't and we abolished it.) I'd like to see this lady being sentenced to hours of community work using the skills she has acquired so there is some positive outcome from this. Maybe some free consultations for pensioners and the under-priveleged... If she will find it harder to work in Australia I see that as a good result. We need Doctors here and maybe, having made an affront to our society, she can make some amends by remaining in NZ and actually trying to contribute, instead of just going where the money is. I have no problem with people making money and bettering themselves, but this lady made a severe error of judgement and SHE should take responsibility for it, not us. Just suppose, instead of trying to weasel out of the charge with an expensive lawyer, she had gone to Court, admitted her guilt, shown some remorse and offered to provide free consultations as part of her practise for a period determined by the Court, as a means of reducing her penalty. Wouldn't everybody win?
Posted on 12-05-2011 10:30 | By The author of this comment has been removed.
You drink, you drive, you will be caught, and thats great, you deserve to be. Takes more or a man/woman to put up your hand and say I made a mistake, and then say but this is how I will fix it.
Doctor convicted
Posted on 12-05-2011 12:07 | By randd
NO of course we don't want anymore drunk drivers on the road. BUT the only relevance to the case that Ms Edwards is a Dr, is the fact that therefore Ms E.must be quite intelligent and also seen too many injuries caused by drunk driving accidents to have done this herself.BUT otherwise why does her particular case have to have all the media hype??Legal implications and her own shame (hopefully) must surely be enough punishment.
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