Jason Charles Beutel fronts Bundaberg Magistrates Court on drug driving charge

A ‘country town’ dad found himself in trouble when a random roadside test revealed he had two types of drugs in his system.

A man with “a rather lengthy traffic history” now has two separate disqualifications on his driver’s licence after appearing in Bundaberg Magistrates Court.

Jason Charles Beutel pleaded guilty this week to one charge of drug driving.

The court heard that on January 21, 2022, police pulled Beutel over for a random test on the New England Highway at Yarraman.

A drug test confirmed both meth and cannabis in his system.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Dean Burgess told the court Beutel had convictions “of a like nature dating back to 2017” and as a consequence, a minimum disqualification of three months and a fine was in order.

Jason Charles Beutel.

When Magistrate John McInnes asked Beutel, who was self-represented, what he had to say, he revealed he’d also had another licence disqualification.

“My license has been disqualified from an accumulation of points and I'm living in a country town, so the quicker I get my licence back the better so I can get back to work Your Honour,” he told the court.

Beutel said his demerit point suspension had cost him his job and he was now unemployed.

Mr McInnes told Beutel the disqualification he’d receive in court would be separate to the latter.

He said the driver had “a rather lengthy traffic record”, and took his plea of guilty into account.

Beutel was convicted and fined $500, referred to SPER and disqualified from driving for three months.

A conviction was recorded.