A driver who was more than two-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit while he was speeding at Dubbo has been convicted, fined and disqualified for six months.
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Kenneth Avon Yelverton, 65, had a reading of 0.131 and was doing 75km/h in a 60km/h zone when he was detected by police along the Newell Highway.
A driver with more than 40 years’ experience, he pleaded guilty in Dubbo Local Court to mid-range drink-driving and speeding in excess of 10km/h above the speed limit.
The maximum penalty for mid-range drink-driving is nine months in jail, a $2200 fine or both and a minimum disqualification period of six months.
Magistrate Brian van Zuylen convicted Yelverton, fined him $900 and put him off the road for a total of six months.
He said with a reading of 0.131 Yelverton had been close to the high range.
The court heard the driver had consumed 10 schooners between 1pm and 5.30pm before he was detected driving along the Newell Highway at Dubbo.
When police pulled him over he said he would be over the limit, the court heard.
The defence submitted Yelverton had averaged 200,000km a year in 10 years because of his work and had never had an accident.
He had gone through a separation from his wife and was living out of town, and on the day in question went to town, his solicitor said.
The 65-year-old acknowledged the conduct was unbecoming and he apologised, his solicitor said.
The defence submitted Yelverton had done four months off the road already and that he had completed a traffic offenders program.
His client was an “honest, hard-working man”, the solicitor said.
The court heard Yelverton had a high-range offence on his record from 2004 but also had good references.
The magistrate told the offender he should consider himself lucky he was caught.
Mr van Zuylen described the offences as a “terrible abandonment” of Yelverton’s “responsibility to the community”.
