Mary St basher gets caught driving drunk in Gympie CBD

The 23-year-old was caught behind the wheel of his VW with six passengers in the car, while more than twice the legal limit.

Joshua Beau Searle has faced a Gympie court again this week.

One of the men involved in a drunken street fight outside a Mary St pub that left another in an induced coma has run afoul of the law in the Gympie CBD once again.

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Joshua Beau Searle, 23, faced the Gympie Magistrates Court yesterday after he was caught behind the wheel in the main street on the night of 20 February, while on parole for previous offending.

The court heard Searle had six passengers in his black Volkswagen when police stopped him, with four of them in the back and two in the front passenger side.

Searle told police he knew he was also in breach of a restriction on his driver's licence that stated he was not to get behind the wheel between 11pm and 5am.

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Searle pleaded guilty to driving over the middle alcohol limit (a blood-alcohol reading between .100 and .150), failing to comply with a condition of his driver’s licence and failing to ensure each passenger aged 16 or older in his car was fitted with an approved seat belt.

He had previously faced the Gympie District Court last September for his role in a brutal group attack on another man outside the Queenslander Hotel in December 2019.

On that occasion Searle pleaded guilty to one count of affray by taking part in the public fight, and one count of assault occasioning bodily harm, with Judge Gary Long sentencing him to 12 months imprisonment with immediate parole plus 120 hours of community service.

On Thursday Magistrate Kurt Fowler said Searle’s latest offending “beggars belief”, banning him from driving for 6 months and ordering him to pay a $1200 fine.

Originally published as Mary St basher gets caught driving drunk in Gympie CBD