Ashley Thomas Slann, Jake Adam Woods, Angela Catherine Hill in court after crashing cars
Three drivers with drugs or copious amounts of alcohol in the systems have faced a Gympie court after getting behind the wheel and crashing their cars.
Police & Courts
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From a man who couldn’t remember smashing into a fence to a woman who drove straight over a roundabout before crashing into someone’s yard, these Gympie region people pleaded guilty in the Gympie Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Ashley Thomas Slann
A 34-year-old Widgee man was fined after an afternoon of beers ended up with him crashing his car into a fence on the Southside.
Ashley Thomas Slann pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol in Gympie Magistrates Court on Thursday.
At about 1.20pm on July 22, 2022, police were called by witnesses who saw a Landcruiser smash through a fence at the intersection of Copp Rd and Pritchard Rd, the court heard.
A witness had stopped his car to help Slann and saw him trying to reverse and calling a friend to help him out and leave the crash scene, the court heard.
He initially denied that he had driven at all, stating ‘I didn’t even know how I crashed,’ police prosecutor Kennedy Grills told the court.
Police conducted a breath test where Slann blew 0.258, more than five times the general alcohol limit.
Slann, after not consuming alcohol for 12 months, decided to drink beers at his friend’s house after a ‘personal dispute’, lawyer Chris Anderson said.
Mr Anderson said his client was disappointed he had started drinking again, and had finished a night shift at 5.30am.
Slann works in a factory in Tin Can Bay, a bike ride of about four hours away, the court heard. He is a father to a nine-year-old son.
Slann was fined $1300 and disqualified from driving for 14 months. Convictions were recorded
Jake Adam Woods
A 34-year-old Imbil man was fined for smashing into a parked car before blowing more than four times the general alcohol limit.
Jake Adam Woods pleaded guilty to failing to provide a blood sample and driving under the influence of alcohol in Gympie Magistrates Court on Monday.
Police were called to the scene of a crash at 8.15pm on Aug 2, 2022.
Woods’ car had smashed into a parked vehicle on the footpath, and police saw Woods still in the car seat.
When police went to speak with him, they noticed a “strong smell of alcohol” while Woods was slurring his words.
He blew 0.232 and was taken to hospital, where he was asked three times to allow staff to take a blood sample, to which he refused.
He was hit hard by the airbags, and his mental health was low at the time, Woods told the court.
Wood worked as an electrician before he “lost confidence” and now helps his friend deliver firewood and receives Centrelink payments, he told the court.
He was fined $800 and disqualified from driving for six months. Convictions were recorded.
Angela Catherine Hill
A 32-year-old woman was put on probation after driving over a roundabout and smashing into a property.
Angela Catherine Hill pleaded guilty to dangerously operating a vehicle, failing to stop and give identification at the scene of a crash and contravening a requirement to attend the police station and give identification in Gympie Magistrates Court on September 1, 2022.
Police were called to Red Hill Rd at about 12.25pm on March 20 after they received a report of a car smashing into a resident's fence.
The resident showed police a video he took of a car, after smashing into the fence, reversing out of the property and clipping the fence again on the way out, police prosecutor Kennedy Grills said.
“Did I? Oh God,” Hill said in court as the facts were read out.
Footage from the Phoenix Hotel revealed Hill’s car approaching from Mt Pleasant Rd and mounting the roundabout, onto the footpath and smashing into the yard.
No mechanical defects were found in her car and she tested positive for drugs, but she has not been charged in relation to this, the court heard.
Hill suffered from anxiety to the point where she was unable to leave the house she shared with her mother and brother, lawyer Jamiee Burns told the court.
Hill was not medicated at the time of the incident, but now receives medication for various mental health issues. She now works at Nolan Meats as a cleaner and has enrolled in a drug course.
Hill was put on probation for 18 months. Convictions were recorded.
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