July 25 (UPI) — Kiri Allan, New Zealand‘s minister of justice, has resigned after she was arrested Sunday night following a car crash in Wellington.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed Allan’s resignation in a statement Monday.
Allan was involved in a Wellington car accident shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday.
A police statement of the incident, which did not identify Allan by name, said she has been charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest, and has been summonsed to appear in court at a later date.
An infringement notice was also issued for “excess breath alcohol” between 250 and 400 mcg. According to New Zealand’s ministry of transport, the legal alcohol limit for drivers 20 years of age and older is 250 mcg of alcohol per liter of breath.
Hipkins said he believes it is untenable for a justice minister to be charged with a criminal offense and that Allan agrees and has resigned, which he accepted.
The crash comes a week since Allan returned to work after taking a leave of absence that was prompted by the ending of her romantic relationship.
In late June, she had taken to social media to state that over the past few weeks she’s “really been struggling with mental health and wellness.”
“While her alleged actions are inexcusable, I’ve been advised she was experiencing extreme emotional distress at the time of the incident,” Hipkins said in his statement. “Her recent personal struggles with mental health have been well documented and it appears some of those issues came to a head yesterday.”
Allan apologized for her actions in a brief statement on Monday, saying she is heading home to contemplate her future in politics.
“Over recent weeks I’ve faced a number of personal difficulties. I took time off to address those and believed I was okay to juggle those challenges with the pressure of being a minister. My actions yesterday show I wasn’t okay, and I’ve let myself and my colleagues down,” she said.
