A man who went to the Supreme Court in an effort to avoid paying for a blood test used to convict him of drink-driving has had a small victory.
After four court hearings, Leroy Barr has saved himself a mere $9.60.
In March last year, the Christchurch District Court ordered Barr to pay $102.60 in medical expenses to cover the cost of calling a doctor to take the blood sample.
A High Court judge later overturned that fee, saying there was no specific legislation for ordering such a payment. But the Court of Appeal later upheld it.
In a verdict issued on Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr Barr was required to pay the fee, but it reduced the amount payable to $93 as specified in the legislation.
The Supreme Court also found that he was also required to pay the fee of the analyst who examined the blood sample.
Barr's lawyer Andrew Bailey says taking the case to the Supreme Court was worth the effort, despite the penalty being reduced by such a small amount.
Mr Bailey says others could also benefit from the case because in some cases he knows of, people have paid up to $250 in medical expense costs.
