New Zealand policeman charged with drunk driving

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Taranaki, New Zealand policeman, Constable Jonathan Erwood, has been charged with drunk driving after responding to a double fatality emergency call on July 9, his day off. He had been giving the driver first aid and then after 20 minutes at the scene another police officer turned up and breathalysed him.

He was then taken to the police station and undertook an elected blood test, which he failed. The limit is 80-milligrams per 100-millilitres and Erwood had 106-milligrams of alcohol per 100-millilitres.

The crash was between Taranaki and Waikato, which is on State Highway 3. He appeared in court today and entered no plea to the charges laid against him.

Supporters of Erwood said he had no choice but to go to the scene of the crash.

Greg O'Conner, Police Association President, said that he does not condone drink driving, but these are exceptional circumstances, adding "The association will be actively advocating that the officer should keep his job."

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Sources

"Support for Mokau bobby" — Newstalk ZB, August 03, 2006
"Policeman enters no plea over failed breath test" — Radio New Zealand, August 03, 2006
NZPA. "No plea by policeman charged with drink-driving" — stuff.co.nz, August 03, 2006

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.