Teetotaller has 6 beers, threatens to drive off cliff
The Gympie region man who ‘never drinks’ blew more than three times the limit
Gympie
Don't miss out on the headlines from Gympie. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A LOWER Wonga man who said he had not had alcohol in seven years threatened to drive off a cliff before blowing a blood alcohol reading more than three times the legal limit.
Marcel Damian Mulder, 51, pleaded guilty in the Gympie Magistrates Court yesterday to driving while over the high alcohol limit.
MORE GYMPIE NEWS
* 5 Gympie benders that did not end well
* UPDATE: Dodgy Gympie highway could be up for big makeover
* Victorian travellers cause COVID fear at Gympie truck stop
The police prosecutor said on May 30 police responded to a call and arrived at Mulder's Lower Wonga property to find him intoxicated and being restrained by family.
Mulder said he had not drunk alcohol for around seven years before the offence, and especially hadn't since his brother's death two years ago from liver cancer caused by alcoholism.
On the day of the offence Mulder said he was "feeling good" and wanted to have some drinks while playing guitar in his workshop and decided to buy six beers and a bottle of Wild Turkey honey liqueur.
Power cuts homes, but no rain damage
Mulder said he did not realise that a medication he had been on did not mix well with alcohol, and he passed out after drinking the beers.
Mulder said he did not remember the whole night, but that he woke up, got to his car and did not remember driving off his property but conceded that he must have driven it on to a nature strip off the edge of his property.
He said he then passed out again for about two hours, returned to the workshop and drank some of the Wild Turkey before heading into his house.
During this time his worried partner had called the police and they arrived to find his family had taken his keys from him and Mulder was being restrained by his son-in-law.
He admitted to having moved his car while under the influence was arrested and taken to Gympie Police Station.
The court heard Mulder showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.171.
Mulder told Magistrate Chris Callaghan he had never had a driving offence in his life, except for losing one demerit point, and that he did not take the law lightly.
"I like to lead my family with values of integrity and ownership," he said.
"I want to show my family you must be responsible and take ownership."
Mr Callaghan commended the man on his almost spotless traffic history and did not record a conviction.
Mulder was fined $600 and disqualified from driving for the minimum six months.
Gympie sale and auction results, week ending April 5
See the latest auction and sales results in Gympie for last week.
‘He’s got a gun’: The pub shooting murders which rocked Qld city
A pool player who survived a bloody shooting in which two women were killed at a Maryborough pub has marked the 25-year anniversary of the tragedy with a poignant tribute and shared haunting memories.