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Fomer Act MP David Garrett
Former Act MP David Garrett has admitted a drink-driving charge, changing his earlier not guilty plea.
He was fined $550 plus court costs and was disqualified from driving for six months from today when he appeared in the Waitakere District Court.
The charge related to an incident on July 29 last year when Garrett was stopped by police near his rural home, north west of Auckland.
After failing an initial breath test, he opted to give a blood sample.
The charge was Excess Blood Alcohol of 132 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. The blood alcohol limit is 80 milligrams.
Last November, he pleaded not guilty to the charge, but today asked to vacate that plea and enter a guilty plea.
In a statement released through his lawyer today, Garrett said he was deeply ashamed of committing an offence that carries the very real risk of serious harm to other road users and the general public.
Garrett resigned from Parliament in 2010 after admitting he stole the identity of a dead baby to get a passport in the mid 1980s.
Last October, the former law and order spokesman for Act was suspended from practising law for a year.
The ban was because when he was caught in the 2005 police passport sting, he told the courts he had no previous convictions when he had in fact been convicted of assault in Tonga.
Police also investigated Garrett over that false affidavit but the case was closed without any charges being laid.
ONE News reported in November that Garrett must reapply for his practising certificate, having effectively served his one year suspension.
He had kept a low profile for the past year, working part time
at a friend's law firm.
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