Another repeat drink driver

Anna Turner in Stuff reports:

The courts are not being “tough enough” on a man caught drink-driving for the seventh time, says his partner.

She’s right.

Shayne Kevin Gebbie, 47, was arrested in the early hours of October 28 while driving home drunk from a pub in Rangiora. The police pulled him over in Island Rd, near Kaiapoi, after he nearly hit the patrol car.

His breath-alcohol level was recorded at 1156mcg/L, more than double the legal limit of 400mcg/L.

It was Gebbie’s seventh charge for drink-driving.

If he has been caught seven times, I’d estimate he has driven drunk 700 times or so.

He said he had been drinking whiskey and thought he may have been safe to drive, even though friends told him he had had too much.

“Yes and no,” he said. “I guess I felt all right.”

So he ignored his friends. That suggests little chance of change.

Gebbie, who pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday, has been remanded on bail until March 8 for sentencing.

He is not allowed to drink alcohol within 12 hours of driving.

His licence should be gone for good, and he should be told if he is ever found behind a car wheel again he is going to jail. That may sound harsh, but better that him killing someone while driving drunk.

However, Gebbie did not believe he had a problem with alcohol, saying his seven convictions happened over a long period. 

“I’m 47 years old. Those were over many years.”

Sad.