Intoxicated father whose 9yo drove him to get more alcohol gets a warning, won't be charged

The Otago father whose 9-year-old child drove him to purchase more alcohol is facing a warning and will avoid charges, police say.

About 7:30pm on Saturday, the child was caught driving his intoxicated father in Mosgiel south of Dunedin.

The minimum legal age for a learner driver in New Zealand is 16.

A police spokesperson told Newshub the incident has been investigated. 

"Having taken into account all the circumstances have decided to warn the father.

"He will be referred to undertake an alcohol and parenting course. 

"Police and other agencies are providing support to the family."

Saturday was New Zealand's annual 'Crate Day', held on the first Saturday of December. The event was launched by The Rock radio station as a publicity stunt in 2009.

It's turned into tens of thousands of people partaking in the tradition of a single person drinking an entire crate of beer - 12 750ml bottles.

Alcohol campaigners in the past have called for the event to be canned because of dangerous behaviour.

"It's time that this campaign came to an end," Nicki Jackson from Alcohol Healthwatch told Newshub in 2017.

"It causes too much harm to individuals and to communities."