Raquel Lawrie in court after Manns Road car crash, Emu Park
A mother of four decided to drive “just to the end of the road” when she crashed and her car burst into flames - now the cause of her horror can be revealed.
Police & Courts
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Mother of four Raquel Betty Lawrie was heavily intoxicated when she decided to drive “just to the end of the dirt road” fronting her Capricorn Coast home.
It proved to be a big mistake.
She crashed the Volvo and suffered burns, she had to be airlifted to hospital where she spent “a few days” as a patient.
A blood sample was taken from Lawrie at the hospital and after analysis, it was determined her blood alcohol content was .169.
In Yeppoon Magistrates Court on July 13, Lawrie, 47, pleaded guilty to drink driving on Manns Road, Emu Park, on November 7 last year.
The court heard that Lawrie had several previous drink driving offences on her traffic history but, importantly for her, none of those were in the past five years.
A self-represented Lawrie told Magistrate Grace Kahlert that she had been drinking at a barbecue the night before the crash and got home about 2.30am.
“I had no intention of driving that day,” Lawrie said, as she explained that she had driven to the end of the dirt road fronting her residence to meet a friend when the 10.20am crash happened.
“I wasn’t aware that the blood alcohol level had been a contribution to my accident until the police came a month ago to tell me I had to attend court,” Lawrie said.
“I haven’t been driving since (the crash) because I haven’t had a vehicle.”
Referencing Lawrie’s traffic history which had previous high-level drink driving on it, Ms Kahlert asked her if she had a problem with her drinking and Lawrie replied: “I don’t think so.”
When handing down penalty, Ms Kahlert took into account that Lawrie had not driven since the crash and that she was unemployed.
Ms Kahlert placed Lawrie on six months’ probation and disqualified her from driving for seven months.
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