Matthew James Fogarty, 24, pleads guilty in Warwick Magistrates Court to drug driving and knife offence

A Warwick man who turned to meth to cope with the violent nature of his workplace has been sentenced in Warwick Magistrates Court.

Matthew James Fogarty pleaded guilty to three counts of driving under the influence of meth and possessing a knife.

A Warwick man won’t be behind the wheel for the next nine months after pleading guilty to multiple drug driving charges.

Matthew James Fogarty pleaded guilty to three counts of driving while under the influence of meth and one count of possessing a knife in a public place.

The court was told Fogarty was stopped randomly by police in September, October and February, testing positive for methylamphetamine on each occasion.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Phil Donaldson told the court that when police stopped Fogarty in February they found a flick knife in the driver's side door of his vehicle.

Senior Constable Donaldson said when police asked Fogarty why he had the knife in his possession, he told officers “It’s a dangerous word”.

Fogarty’s defence solicitor Bonnie O’Brien told the court her client had been going through a particularly bad period around the time of the offending, having left his employment at an abattoir in October due to the impact of the nature of the work on his mental health.

Ms O’Brien said her client had been taking steps to rehabilitate himself and has been off the road for the past two months.

Magistrate Janice Crawford issued Fogarty with a $1000 fine and disqualified him from driving for a total of nine months.

Convictions were recorded for the driving offences only.