‘A man has to live, eat and work’ man loses licence until 2028

The Gympie man, who had already been disqualified from driving until 2026, was found by police sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, drunk and still drinking, and claiming ‘a man has to live, eat and work’.

Caine Leslie Beckett, 46, had already been disqualified from driving until 2026 when he was found by police sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, drunk and still drinking, and claiming ‘a man has to live, eat and work’.​

A 46-year-old Southside father of two who had already been disqualified from driving until 2026 was found by police sitting in the front seat of his car with the keys in the ignition while he was clearly drunk.

Caine Leslie Beckett pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on Monday, May 24, to driving while drunk and unlicensed.

Police prosecutor Melissa Campbell said Beckett had previous disqualified driving charges, with his licence disqualified until 2026.

She said police found him sitting and drinking in the front seat of his car while parked near Johns Road, Southside, on October 23, 2020 with the keys in the ignition.

“He admitted he had been driving the vehicle to get his shopping, he had stopped at the sports ground car park,” she said.

When Beckett was asked why he was driving the car when he didn’t have a licence, he said “a man has to live, eat and work”, the court heard.

He also failed to provide a breath test four times, forcing police to resort to a blood test instead, revealing a BAC of 0.265.

Magistrate Kurt Fowler called Beckett “a danger on the road”.

Beckett was disqualified from driving for a further two years and sentenced to six months behind bars, which was suspended for 15 months.