Matthew Fono Sale, 21
Drink driving causing injury.

Drink driving causing injury, careless driving causing injury, driving without an appropriate licence.

The Facts

Sale, 21, had been out socialising and drinking with his younger brother. The next morning as he was driving in a vehicle with his brother Sale became drowsy and fell asleep at the wheel. He mounted a kerb and crashed the car.

The Victim:

Sale's younger brother, a promising high school rugby player. Judge Stephen O'Driscoll said the brother "bore the brunt" of the crash and suffered a broken spine, broken left leg and arm. He spent several days in a critical condition and is still recovering from the injuries. It is not known if he will ever recover fully but has made good progress of late. He faces an "extensive" rehabilitation period, and was in court with other family members to support Sale at sentencing.

Features of Offending:

Aggravating:

• Sale had a breath alcohol level of 469 micrograms per litre of breath, when the legal limit is 400mcg/l.

Mitigating:

• Remorse
• Early guilty plea
• First offender

Judge's Comments:

“ Your case is a classic illustration of why we have laws against drinking and driving. When you drink and drive the risk significantly increases of you hurting or maiming others in a crash. That is exactly what has happened here. You put yourself at risk, your brother at risk and all other road users at risk because you failed to abide by the rules – and the rules clearly say not to drink and drive. I hope you've had time to reflect on what might have happened if the injuries had been more serious or if your brother had died in the crash. It would not be a case of what sentence you would be given in terms of community work and supervision, it would be a question of how many years' imprisonment you would receive in that case. Your family would have lost two sons - your brother in the crash and you to prison. You need to ensure that you never get behind the wheel again and drive after you have been drinking. You need to treat this as a very valuable lesson in life and ensure it doesn't happen again. You're 21… you've got everything going for you. Don't blow it again in future by drink driving. ” Stephen O'Driscoll