Taipu Moana appeared in an advertising campaign for the Huntly It's Not OK family fun day.

An addiction counsellor who drove drunk apparently tried to eat leaves off a tree in a bid to reduce the amount of alcohol in his blood.

Taipu Eric Moana was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday, on a single charge of refusing a police blood alcohol test in Huntly in March last year.

Moana, 47, is an alcohol and drug counsellor with Hauora Waikato and a champion for the "It's not OK" anti-domestic violence campaign, which uses respected figures to push its message.

He had originally appeared for sentencing last week in the Huntly District Court after earlier being found guilty following a defended hearing, however Judge Philip Connell adjourned sentencing so he could read submissions on the case.

Moana was making a two-kilometre journey home when he was stopped at a police checkpoint at 10.10pm on March 21 last year. The court heard he had initially tried to drive right through the checkpoint, but then stopped after being shouted at by an officer.

He had earlier been drinking at the Huntly Workingmen's Club, where over the course of the evening he consumed an estimated five handles of beer, the court was told.

After being stopped he was escorted to the police alcohol bus to undergo a blood test, which would have verified the exact amount of alcohol in his bloodstream and determined whether he was over the legal limit.

"It was at that point that he set about to frustrate the process of testing," Judge Connell said.

Moana asked the constable with him to hurry up and test him so he could get home. However he then attempted to delay the test by asking he be read the Bill of Rights, which he said had not been read to him when he was pulled over.

Once inside the police bus he then left it, and walked about 15 to 20 metres away with one of the police officers following him. He approached a tree and then picked leaves off it and, according to the officer, was preparing to eat them.

Whether he actually ate the leaves was not determined, however the police officer noted "a green substance around the mouth of the defendant" afterwards, Connell said.

Moana's own explanation was that he was simply "picking off a twig of the tree to chew on".

He then attempted to further delay the blood test by using the officer's phone to call his lawyer.

In the end, he refused to be tested.

According to the summary of facts, Moana had told police that a Maori "does not do needles".

Defence counsel Rob Quin applied for a Section 106 discharge without conviction - which are granted if the court is satisfied the consequences of a conviction would be out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence.

In Moana's case the consequences would be losing his job with Hauora Waikato. Part of his work as a counsellor involves going to prisons to talk to inmates about their problems and a conviction would bar him from entry to such facilities.

Connell said after careful consideration he had decided the consequences for Moana were not disproportionate and he declined the application.

Moana's job meant he had better knowledge than most of the pitfalls and consequences of drink driving and this knowledge had increased the gravity of his offending. He would also have been aware of the effect of drinking five handles of beer on his driving abilities.

"With this knowledge of the consequences he still chose to drive," the judge said.

Potentially losing a job due to a drink driving conviction was something everyone should be aware of.

"There's nothing special about it. It's such a cost ... that most people will refrain."

Connell convicted Moana and fined him $450 with court costs of $130. He also disqualified Moana from driving for six months.

The maximum penalty for refusing to take a blood alcohol test was three months' prison and a $4500 fine.

Moana's registration with The Addiction Practitioners' Association, Aotearoa-New Zealand (Dapaanz) is up for renewal this month.