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Offender Databases Margaret Richardson

Margaret Jessie Richardson

Alias

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Offences

Numerous drink driving offences up to September 2008

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

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Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1940

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 3 months in November 2008, disqualified from driving for just 1 year and 1 day

Background
Taranaki Daily News story, Nov 25, 2008
A 68-YEAR-OLD Hawera woman has been sent to jail after being convicted of drink-driving for the sixth time. Margaret Jessie Richardson appeared in the Hawera District Court for sentencing yesterday and had previously admitted the charge. She was arrested on September 25 after driving on Waihi Rd in Hawera with more than double the legal limit of alcohol on her breath. She told police she had drunk one jug of beer.

Richardson's lawyer Kelly Marriner asked for home detention but said there were problems with such a sentence. "She has health issues and there are difficulties with her ankles swelling. An electronic device would need to be placed on her wrist and not her ankle." The security company could apply to Community Corrections head office to make a decision, she said. Mrs Marriner said the defendant had mobility problems and also cared for a dependant adult son.

Judge Allan Roberts allowed Richardson to sit in a chair outside the dock for sentencing. He said home detention was not an option and her situation was compounded by her previous convictions. It was a problem Richardson continued to drive after drinking alcohol. "You are an alcoholic but resist the tag. You contend that alcohol is not an issue for you but it well and truly is," he said. "Home detention would require abstinence and this is not a viable proposition for you."

Judge Roberts said it was unlikely she had drunk only one jug of beer and she continued to try to minimise her offending by blaming medication. Richardson's first conviction for drink-driving was in 1985 and her most recent was four years ago. She had received three warnings but had never had a jail sentence. "Every effort has been made to keep you in the community," he said. "You are a liability on the road and you will eventually cause greater damage than you can contemplate." He sentenced her to three months' imprisonment and disqualified her from driving for one year and one day.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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