Nursing student who was driving under the influence of alcohol discharged without conviction

A Dunedin nursing student caught driving under the influence in Queenstown was granted a discharge without conviction due to the possible impact it would have on her career.

Isabelle Anne Bradley, 19, applied for discharge after admitting to a drunk driving charge on Sydney St on June 28. She recorded a breath alcohol level of 479 mcg.

Yesterday he appeared before Community Magistrate Simon Heale in Queenstown District Court.

The court heard that Bradley was drinking with friends when one was “kicked out” from the Four Seasons Motel on Stanley St as a result of noise complaints.

As a result, the friend had to move her car and the defendant offered to do so.

As Bradley was leaving a roadside park on Sydney St, a member of the public saw her pushing another vehicle and called the police.

Attorney Kirsty Allan said the defendant told the officer that she was driving to “clear her head” but only said it out of a misguided impulse to prevent her friend from getting into more trouble.

Bradley had no prior convictions and was “absolutely devastated” by his “spontaneous and foolish decision” to drive.

“Miss Bradley is someone who is almost disinterested to a fault and someone who would do anything for anyone,” Allan said.

She was hoping to graduate from her nursing degree next year, and a conviction could jeopardize her ability to land a job, particularly in more competitive nursing fields.

It would also have consequences for your ability to find employment abroad; She had long had the dream of living and working in London, as well as the desire to travel to Canada, the United States and Japan.

Heale said that no specific evidence had been provided regarding the impact of a conviction on the defendant, but accepted that the indirect consequences would outweigh the gravity of his crime.

He discharged her, ordered Bradley to make a charitable donation of $ 350, and disqualified her for six months.

Karelia Gonzalez Luiz, 49, asset and quality manager, Arthurs Point, was released without conviction after admitting she was driving under the influence (584mcg) on ​​Stanley St on June 14.

After drinking with friends in downtown Queenstown, González Luiz was switching her car from Stanley St to Ballarat St, to avoid a ticket, when police stopped her around 2 a.m.

The accused, a Venezuelan national and a Spanish citizen, is a permanent resident of New Zealand and is on his way to citizenship.

Attorney Louise Denton said a conviction would disqualify the defendant from applying for citizenship for three years from the date of conviction, and then face a character test.

Although unlikely, a conviction would also make her immediately liable for deportation.

The defendant worked full time while raising her son alone.

“I can’t say enough about the impact this would have,” Denton said.

Heale said that everything she had heard indicated that the defendant lived an “exemplary life” and agreed that she met the criteria for discharge.

He discharged her, ordered her to make a charitable donation of $ 400, and disqualified her for six months.