William Alan West faced Noosa court after evading RBT
A retired doctor living in Noosa who evaded random breath testing and almost collided with a car in a dramatic chase has faced court.
Police & Courts
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A retired doctor living in Noosa has blamed a “reflex” response for his failure to stop for random breath testing and almost colliding with another vehicle before being intercepted by police.
Dr Alan William West pleaded guilty at Noosa Magistrates Court on Tuesday to single counts of failing to stop a vehicle for a prescribed purpose, obstructing police and driving over the general alcohol limit.
Police Prosecutor David Hoffman said West came to the attention of police who directed him to stop for roadside breath testing on Mary St in Noosaville at 7.05pm on February 9, 2023.
“He pulled up in the middle of the road way, hesitated before reversing back and turning left into James St,” Sergeant Hoffman said.
“The defendant reversed without consideration for other road users, almost reversing into a vehicle travelling behind the defendant.”
Sergeant Hoffman said police yelled at West to stop after witnessing his “obvious intentions to avoid the RBT”, before pursuing him on foot and in their vehicles before intercepting him on Weyba Rd in Noosaville.
A marked police vehicle blocked a roundabout and forced West to stop, before he again attempted to reverse back into traffic congestion unable to make a getaway.
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When removed from his vehicle by police, West “immediately became hostile and argumentative towards police, refusing to comply with police directions” Sergeant Hoffman said.
A breath test returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.094 per cent.
Self-represented, West told the court he was a retired Doctor of Medicine who has spent 17 years as a rural doctor assisting the police “on many, many, many occasions by taking blood samples at the request of a police Sergeant from people who were suspected of being over the limit of alcohol”.
“My reason for taking a silly decision suspecting that I was on the wrong side of the law, excuse the expression, was purely a reflex that I have done so much to prevent this sort of thing happening, I was now on the other side of the coin,” West said.
Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist noted West’s “ladles of remorse” and his “somewhat elongated” but eventual co-operation with police.
West was fined $800.
He was disqualified from driving for three months.
No conviction was recorded for the obstruct police and failure to stop charges.
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