There were several cases of alcohol-impaired driving heard before the Court in Avarua on Thursday.

Michael Hoff appeared before Justice of the Peace Tangi Taoro in the Criminal Court, pleading guilty to driving with excess breath alcohol on July 22, 2022.

Hoff was driving a scooter down the main road in Avarua and was stopped for poor driving. A breath test was conducted and Hoff blew 670mcg per litre of breath. The limit is 250mcg.

When questioned by police, he said he had drunk three to four bottles of Steinlager before hopping on the scooter.

JP Taoro disqualified Hoff from owning a driver’s licence for 12 months, fined him $270, and ordered him to pay $50 in Court costs.

Israel David Miles also appeared before JP Taoro on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to driving with excess blood alcohol after an incident on July 14, where he was driving a scooter and veered off the main road trying to avoid a dog.

He was subsequently blood tested and returned a reading of 270mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, the limit is 50mg.

Miles explained to police that he had been drinking at an establishment before getting on the scooter.

JP Taoro convicted Miles, disqualified him from owning a driver’s licence for 12 months, fined him $330 and ordered him to pay Court costs of $50 and $150 in reparations for the blood test.

Sonny Tokahere apologised to the Court, after pleading guilty to driving with excess breath alcohol. On July 23, he was stopped by police after being seen driving erratically in Tupapa. He took a breath test, and blew 670mcg.

JP Taoro fined Tokahere $270, ordered him to pay court costs of $50, and disqualified from driving for 12 months.