A magistrate has found there's "no alternative" to prison for a serial drink driver who has never held a licence.
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Appearing at Dubbo Local Court on Thursday, May 16, Arthur Geoffery Orcher was sentenced to at least eight months behind bars for drink driving and driving while disqualified.
He was also fined $200 for threatening to beat a woman for not lending him a lighter.
Orcher was originally set to be sentenced a day earlier but he was too drunk for the matter to proceed.
Driving drunk in an unregistered vehicle
On the evening of Thursday, November 17, 2023, Orcher was stopped by police outside the Brewarrina Olympic Pool and Aquatic Centre.
Officers saw a long neck Bundaberg Rum and Cola in the car's cup holder and Orcher's passenger was drinking a mid-strength Great Northern beer.
An officer asked Orcher if he had also consumed alcohol and he said, "yep". A roadside breath test confirmed he had been drinking.
The officer then asked to see Orcher's licence and he said he "wasn't carrying it".
Orcher was arrested and taken to the station where he admitted to police he had drunk a large quantity of port and a number of mid-strength Great Northern beers before getting in the car.
Further breath testing revealed he had 0.119 grams of alcohol in 210 litres of breath.
A record check showed Orcher never held a licence and was disqualified from driving a vehicle until November 20, 2026. The car he was driving had also been unregistered since April 10, 2022.
'I never hit her, I just said I would.'
Orcher also faced court for a separate charge of intimidation.
On February 7, 2024, Orcher and another man were drinking with an acquaintance at her home in Dubbo.
At around 10pm, Orcher was sitting on the couch with the woman and asked her if she had a lighter.
The woman said she didn't have one and Orcher became enraged, standing over her and shouting, "I'm going to bash you!"
The woman became afraid for her safety and ran to the bathroom to hide where she called police.
Police soon arrived and met the other man, who was heavily intoxicated, at the front door. He was hostile, but allowed police to enter.
Officers found the woman in the bathroom and Orcher asleep in the hallway in front of the bathroom door.
Police woke him and discovered he was the subject of an outstanding warrant. He was arrested, cautioned and taken to Dubbo Police Station.
There, he told police "I never hit her, I just said I would".
'No other option' than jail, magistrate said
Handing down his sentence, magistrate Gary Wilson said the only thing working in Orcher's favour was that he had attended an alcohol treatment program.
However, the fact Orcher had shown up to court drunk the day before showed he still had a way to go.
Magistrate Wilson also pointed out this was the 10th or 11th drink driving offence Orcher had been before the courts with over a "relatively short" period of time.
"I have no other alternative to a custodial sentence," he said.
Orcher was escorted from the courtroom by two correctional officers.
He will be eligible for release in January, 2025.
