A man was lucky to survive a serious car crash on the Old Dubbo Road after he drove dangerously with alcohol in his system and without a licence, before lying to police about his car being stolen.
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He has been given a suspended sentence, bond and fine in Dubbo Local Court and told that if he messes up again, he will go to jail.
On July 5 last year, Richard Hughes, 25, was driving in a southerly direction on the Old Dubbo Road in a golden brown VT commodore.
About 50 metres before the intersection at Angle Road, his car left the right side of the roadway at the apex of a slow left-hand bend, according to court facts.
It went up a mound on the side of the road before travelling about 36 metres in the air and then crashing into a fence.
After hitting the fence, the vehicle flipped into a paddock and landed about 49 metres from the road.
The court heard Hughes then took a taxi to the Dubbo Police Station and told police he had been assaulted by two males and they had stolen his car.
According to court facts, police were suspicious with his story due to the injuries he had sustained, which appeared to be from a motor vehicle accident.
He was taken to Dubbo Base Hospital by ambulance where he stuck with the story he had created when detectives attended.
The court heard he maintained the story for 10 hours.
“Police undertook a lengthy investigation at a great cost to them and at great cost to the community,” Magistrate Howard Hamilton said.
Blood was located on the driver side airbag of the vehicle, which was taken for forensic examination.
After finding a match with Hughes’ blood, police charged him with the offences.
“It was a serious accident and he could have killed himself or other users of the road,” Hughes’ legal representative told the court.
She said he was an alcoholic and did not want to end up like his father, who left him at a young age.
“Fortunately only your vehicle was involved [in the accident],” Magistrate Hamilton said.
“You’re lucky you weren’t killed.”
Hughes was sentenced to 10 months in prison, which was suspended, for making a false representation to police, a two-year bond for driving with mid-range PCA and a $1000 fine for driving without a license.
