Michael John William Fairchild faces Dalby Magistrates Court for drunken single-vehicle crash

A drunk driver who was more than four times the legal limit was mourning the loss of his ‘childhood sweetheart’ when he crashed his vehicle in Tara earlier this year, a court has been told.

A man involved in a single vehicle crash at Tara says he relapsed back into alcohol use after the loss of his “childhood sweetheart” the night of the incident.

Michael John William Fairchild faced Dalby Magistrates Court on April 2 charged with driving under the influence, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving an uninsured vehicle.

The court was told Fairchild was driving his vehicle on Fry St at 9pm on February 10 2024 when he clipped the gutter and lost control, crashing onto the footpath.

No one was injured during the single vehicle crash.

Police attended the scene and issued a breath test where Fairchild returned a reading of 0.209, more than four times the legal limit.

Fairchild told the court he had experienced issues with alcohol in the past, but had been sober for two years prior to the night of the offence.

He said he had relapsed after his childhood sweetheart and mother of two of his children had died.

Magistrate Bain said she sympathised with Fairchild, but asked him to consider the impacts of his actions on other people and asked how he’d feel if his children were hurt by a drunk driver.

He pleaded guilty and was issued with a six month loss of licence and a $900 fine. No conviction was recorded.