Former All Black Piri Weepu pleads guilty to drink driving

Former All Black halfback Piri Weepu has admitted to drink driving in Lower Hutt last month.

The former All Black and Super Rugby player Piri Weepu. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The 34-year-old was charged with driving with excess breath alcohol on Victoria Street in Petone on 15 July.

Police say he had 600 micrograms of alcohol on his breath at the time of the offending.

The legal limit is 250 micrograms, and anyone over 400mcg can receive a conviction.

The 2011 World Cup star tweeted that he was due in Hutt Valley Distric Court this morning and would plead guilty.

Kia ora everyone. On the of 15th July I was charged with excess breath alcohol while driving. I am due to appear in court this morning in relation to this at which time i will plead guilty. I made an error in judgement and put my hand up 100% and admit it was really bad call on my part. I’m extremely embarrassed and sorry for any impact this may have on my friends and family, and the wider community. Thank you to those who have supported me so far in this matter. I’ll be focussing hard on getting back on track.

A post shared by piriweepu9 (@piriweepu9) on Aug 6, 2018 at 3:15pm PDT

He has since done so and was fined $600 and disqualified from driving for six months.

Weepu had initially fought for name suppression.

Weepu said what he did was "dumb and wrong", he's "extremely embarrassed" and has apologised to his family, friends and community.

His lawyer Louise Sziranyi said Weepu made a "significant error" and wanted to accept the consequences of what he had done.

The former Hurricanes star played 73 tests for the All Blacks from 2004-2013.