A Dubbo p-plater who was caught drunk behind the wheel thought he was right to drive after drinking into the early hours after work.
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Casual bartender at the Commercial Hotel and concreter Sam Gregory Pay, pleaded guilty to mid-range drink driving in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.
According to court documents the 20-year-old came to the attention of police after he mounted a roundabout and clipped the guttering on Myall Street at about 3.20am on March 12 this year.
After returning a positive roadside breath test Pay was arrested and taken to Dubbo Police Station where he returned a reading of 0.089.
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His licence was immediately suspended.
In court defence lawyer Tijana Caldwell said Pay had been drinking after work into the early hours of Saturday morning, but believed he was fit enough to drive home.
She said however after completing the Traffic Offenders Program - a court-based program providing offenders with the information and skills necessary to develop positive attitudes towards driving and develop safer driving behaviours - her client had "learned a lot".
"I'm told he's very sorry and learned his lesson," Ms Caldwell said.
"He doesn't want to be the reason someone dies on the road."
Ms Caldwell asked Magistrate Theresa Hamilton for leniency and asked her to consider giving Pay a conditional release order without conviction and to backdate the disqualification period to the date of the offence.
However Magistrate Hamilton believed the matter was "more serious" as it was his manner of driving which brought him to police attention.
"He is still on a provisional licence and he has had a couple of relatively high-level speeding offences," she said.
Taking into account his early plea, limited criminal history and good character Pay avoided a conviction but was fined $500, disqualified for three months and placed on a 12-month mandatory interlock licence.