A high-range drink-driver who rolled his Toyota LandCruiser ute causing his passenger to be ejected from the vehicle has faced Orange Local Court.
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John Nicholas Dowd, also known as Jack Dowd, was working at a farm station near Warren at the time of the crash but stayed with family in Orange while he recovered from injuries sustained as a result of the accident.
Magistrate David Day said Dowd was a person of prior good character.
"There was a roll-over incident at high speed, second a person was ejected from the vehicle, third the blood alcohol was 0.230," Mr Day said.
"Passengers were put at risk so his moral culpability is increased.
"The offending is serious, even though the risk of offending is negligible."
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According to court documents, the 23-year-old was driving a Toyota LandCruiser on Sunday, July 3, 2022, and he stopped at the Nevertire Hotel at Nevertire on his way home from a trip with three friends.
About 5.30pm that evening, he left the pub. A friend went with him in the front passenger seat and the other friends got into another vehicle.
Following his friend's vehicle, Dowd travelled south on the Mitchell Highway before turning left onto the Oxley Highway heading north towards Warren.
The highway had a posted speed limit of 110km/h, with one lane running each way.
About two kilometres north of the Mitchell and Oxley Highway intersection, Dowd crossed to the other side of the road to overtake his friend's vehicle.
He's a young man who has made a terrible mistake.
- Police prosecutor Sergeant Beau Riley
He safely overtook them but steered too far left causing the vehicle to drive off the road.
He tried to correct it and steer right onto the bitumen but he over-corrected causing the wheels to lock.
As a result, the ute rolled several times before it stopped on the northbound side of the road and landed on its roof.
Dowd's passenger was thrown from the ute and landed on the side of the road about 10 metres from the wreckage.
Dowd was trapped in the vehicle and the tray and dog cage were ripped off and strewn about the crash site. No dog was mentioned in the court documents.
Dowd's friends, who were travelling in the other vehicle, stopped and contacted emergency services.
Police, Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Ambulance arriving on scene and Dowd was safely removed from the vehicle and both he and his friend were taken by ambulance to Dubbo Hospital.
They were both released from hospital with minor injuries.
In an interview at Warren Police Station on July 7, 2022, Dowd said he drank five alcoholic drinks that day just before the crash and was travelling at about 100km/h.
On August 29, 2022, police received Dowd's alcohol result on an expert certificate which determined it would have been a high-range reading 0.230 at the time of the crash.
The incident was Dowd's first offence and he has since completed the Traffic Offender Intervention Program.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Beau Riley said the custodial threshold was crossed but was open to how it would be served.
"He's a young man who has made a terrible mistake," Sergeant Riley said.
Mr Day agreed with Sergeant Riley's assessment and said "some form of imprisonment is appropriate".
Mr Day convicted Dowd and placed him on a nine-month community-based jail sentence by way of an Intensive Correction Order that will run from January 20 to October 19 this year. Part of the conditions of the order are that Dowd abstain from alcohol for six months from January 20, 2023.
Mr Day also disqualified Dowd's driver's licence for four months and gave him a 24-month interlock order.
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