A man who was found driving nearly six times over the legal breath alcohol limit will be sentenced by three Justices of the Peace.

Ngatokoa Terepo appeared before Justice of the Peace Tangi Taoro at the Criminal Court on Avarua on Thursday.

He pleaded guilty to charges of driving with excess breath alcohol.

Terepo was stopped in Nikao on March 11 after he was spotted driving erratically. He was breath-tested by police and recorded a reading of more than 1200mcg of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit is 250mcg.

JP Taoro told Terepo that the matter had to be dealt with by a three-JP hearing, as the reading was “very, very high”.

JP Taoro adjourned the matter to March 28.

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A young woman faces a reparation bill of over $1700 after crashing a company vehicle into the back of a truck. 

Annie Rose Taufahema appeared before Justice of the Peace Tangi Taoro in the Criminal Court in Avarua on Thursday.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving.

According to the summary of facts, read out in Court, the incident occurred in Muri on January 22, 2023 about 2.30pm.

The defendant was driving a motorcycle when she lost concentration and crashed into the back of a truck. The truck received damages and the defendant was also injured in the incident.

Police gave Taufahema a blood test, but she was found to be under the legal blood-alcohol limit. 

As Taufahema was driving a company vehicle, a reparations scheme has been worked out with her employer. 

She also had to pay $1700 in reparations for the damage done to the truck, and $150 in reparations for the blood-alcohol test.

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A man has told the Court he might not be able to afford to pay the $5200 in reparations he has been ordered to pay for a careless driving conviction.

Upokoina Teremoana Taoro appeared before Justice of the Peace Tangi Taoro in the Criminal Court in Avarua on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving

JP Tangi Taoro and Upokoina Taoro are not related. 

According to the summary of facts, read out in Court, the incident occurred on March 10, 2023, when Upokoina Taoro, driving a pickup truck, crashed into a vehicle in Matavera.

Upokoina Taoro explained to the Court he needed to go back to New Zealand for work, and that he could not afford to pay the reparations, which were likely to be over $5200.

JP Taoro advised Upokoina Taoro to seek advice from the registrar for making payments.