A driver on his way from Gulgong to Sydney, who returned a breath analysis of 0.149 when he was stopped in Mudgee, was fined $880 and disqualified for three months to be followed by a 12-month interlock period.
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Deon Mashiri of Young Circuit, Elderslie, pleaded guilty to mid-range drink driving when he appeared in Mudgee Local Court last Wednesday.
Police were patrolling Douro Street at about 3.15am on Saturday, October 12, 2019, when they stopped the 38-year-old's vehicle.
When asked if he'd consumed any alcohol he said he'd had "a couple" and officers noted that he appeared to be affected.
Upon reading that the defendant recorded a breath analysis just below high-range around 30 kilometres into his journey, Magistrate David Day commented, "goodness knows what he was when he left the Prince of Wales".
"If he was going to drive to Sydney it's a good thing for everyone south of Mudgee that he was stopped," he added.
A discrepancy in Mashiri's paperwork was brought to the court's attention, meaning that his licence hadn't been suspended [required for mid and high-range offences] at the time he was charged.
Although, his solicitor Peter Orr said that his client believed that he had been ordered off the road after the incident and assured that he hadn't been driving.
But without a suspension actually being recorded, those two months couldn't be taken into account when handing down the disqualification period.
This would've been at the court's discretion and Magistrate Day said - given the reading and the distance that Mashiri had driven and was continue to travel - "I wasn't going to be generous anyway".
