Jone Coelho sentenced after crash, claiming his pre-workout drink had cocaine in it

A driver has claimed a pre-workout drink was spiked with cocaine before he crashed into another car and caused a man to become paralysed.

Jone Da Silva Coelho.

A man claimed he had a pre-workout drink unknowingly laced with cocaine before he crashed into another car on a major Bundaberg region highway and rendered another man paralysed.

Jone Da Silva Coelho was charged following the incident on the Isis Hwy on June 2 with offences including driving without due care and attention, causing grievous bodily harm and driving with a relevant drug present in his system.

The case was first mentioned in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Thursday, August 8.

Coelho pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the same hearing.

Jone Da Silva Coelho suspects there was cocaine in his pre-workout energy drink.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Vikki Kennedy-Grills told the court that on the date of the crash, at 2.55pm, roadworks on the Isis Hwy had reduced the speed limit from 100 km/h to 80 km/h and then to 60 km/h.

A vehicle, a near-new Hyundai Tucson, was stopped at a traffic control red light when Mr Coelho’s Nissan Navara hit it.

The Tucson was occupied by a couple aged 69 and 71.

Both were injured, with the driver suffering spinal nerve trauma leading to permanent paralysis of both legs.

Coelho was uninjured and both vehicles were destroyed in the crash.

Coelho, in Bundaberg for work, was driving home to the Sunshine Coast.

That court was told that when questioned, Coelho could only recall the collision, admitting he “must’ve dozed off”.

A traffic controller estimated Coelho’s speed at about 60 km/h at the time of the crash.

A roadside saliva test revealed cocaine in his system, which Mr Coelho claimed he had unknowingly ingested.

Sergeant Kennedy-Grills highlighted the serious nature of the incident and the injuries sustained by the Tucson’s driver who was “unlikely to leave the hospital until Christmas”.

Barrister Callan Cassidy presented several character references in favour of Coelho.

Mr Cassidy told the court Coelho was born in Australia and lived overseas for a while, before returning to Sydney at age 10 and living in a housing commission home.

He completed high school at South Sydney High and moved to escape the troubled area.

He has worked various jobs and, in 2010, welcomed his first child with his wife.

Coelho worked as a telecommunications technician before becoming a construction contractor for 14 years, travelling “150,000 kilometres per year for work,” Mr Cassidy said.

The court was told he was interested in health and fitness and was a regular gym-goer.

Coelho maintained he did not deliberately use illicit drugs and said the cocaine in his system was possibly from a pre-workout drink given to him at the gym, which he found “unusual” in taste.

Magistrate John McInnes ordered Coelho to pay $1500 in direct compensation to the injured man.

His licence was disqualified for six months for driving without due care and an additional month for driving with drugs in his system.

No conviction was recorded and Coelho was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service.