Published 08 Dec 2011
Case Study - Criminal Charge - Criminal Matter – Downing Centre Local Court - Drive with a High Range Concentration of Alcohol – Interlock Order – Guideline Judgment for High Range Drink Driving – aggravating features – increased moral culpability – local court sentencing – Traffic Offender Intervention Program – licence disqualification – interlock device
Nyman Gibson Stewart Criminal Defence Lawyers – Sydney and Parramatta
Downing Centre Local Court
Represented by solicitor: Shaun Mortimer
Facts: Our client was a single father, a sales person, and also undertook significant work in the community working for his son’s local soccer team. He went out after work on a Friday and consumed a significant amount of alcohol and decided to drive his vehicle home from Sydney’s eastern suburbs to the North Shore, and on the way he collided with the rear of a stationary taxi at an intersection. This caused several thousand dollars in damage to the taxi, and led to our client being breath tested by Police when they arrived. He was arrested and subsequently had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.178, and was charged with driving with a high range concentration of alcohol. The matter came before the Downing Centre Local Court for sentencing.
Result: Because of the collision, the degree of intoxication above the high range level, and the length of the drive involved, the client faced a real danger of receiving a custodial penalty. However, because of his prior good character, work in the community, and need to support his young son, the Magistrate spared him from any sort of custodial penalty. He had voluntarily participated in the Traffic Offender Program, and his successful completion of that impressed the Magistrate. It was argued that a disqualification from driving was of itself a significant penalty, and our client’s motivation to be a law abiding motorist in the future justified him being allowed to participate in the Interlock Program. This would require the installation of a device in his car to certify his sobriety, and which would enable him to drive legally again after only a 6 month disqualification period. The Magistrate agreed to make the order, and as a result, our client, who had faced an automatic disqualification period of 3 years, was able to re-apply for a new drivers licence in only a matter of weeks from the date in court.
Shaun Mortimer is a criminal defence lawyer based at our Sydney office and regularly appears at the Downing Centre Local Court.