Griffith Uni law student’s first client: himself

A final-year law student has managed to get some real-life work experience after defending himself on a drink driving charge, but his court debut didn’t go as smoothly as he would have wanted.

Griffith Uni law student Paul William Sapwell defended himself in Holland Park Magistrates Court on a minor drink driving charge.

A final-year Griffith University criminology student’s first case has turned out to be defending himself after he was charged with a drink driving offence.

Paul William Sapwell, 30, conducted his own defence in Holland Park Magistrates Court on a single charge of driving over the no-alcohol limit, but under the general alcohol limit.

He was on a provisional licence at the time of the incident, on Beaudesert Rd at Moorooka on January 3, because of a number of previous drink driving offences.

At one stage Magistrate Simon Young asked Sapwell, who looked every bit the defence lawyer in a sharp suit and with neatly-trimmed hipster beard, how serious he believed his offence was.

“As a law student (tell me), what is the sentence range,’’ Mr Young asked him.

Sapwell replied that a three- to nine-month disqualification was in order.

“Not correct. The minimum I can impose is six months,’’ Mr Young said.

Sapwell told the court he had originally pleaded not guilty as he suffered from gastroesophageal reflux, a digestive disorder where acids back up in the stomach.

He said his research indicated the condition affected alcohol breath test readings, and the blood alcohol level recorded by police was only 0.032 per cent.

That is well under the 0.05 limit for drivers on a general licence.

Sapwell had even bought a home breathalyser, which he used on himself before driving, but conceded it was “obviously not as accurate’’ as police measurements.

The chef of 12 years said he decided to change his plea to guilty due to the difficulty in proving inaccuracy in the police measurement.

In his defence, he said he was of such excellent character Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner had only the previous week sent him a letter of congratulations for his voluntary service with the Special Emergency Service (SES).

“I’m deeply upset and remorseful. I’ve learned a valuable lesson,’’ he said.

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Mr Young said Sapwell had a poor driving history over the past five years.

It included an incident where he was sentenced to 15 months’ probation for drinking while on a scooter — opposite the CBD police headquarters.

“Not wise, but sounds like a law student,’’ Mr Young quipped.

He said he took into account the circumstances of the incident and noted it was at the lesser end of the range of offending.

“It’s more a mistake of judgment. I certainly do not accept it as a deliberate flouting of the law,’’ Mr Young said.

He imposed an eight-month disqualification and $850 fine, half of the normal amount, to be paid through the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER).

Mr Young said while he was not suggesting Sapwell would break the court’s conditions on his driving disqualification, he warned him of the serious consequences to his budding law career if he did do so.

But when Sapwell was asked to hand over his licence, he confessed to making the rookie error of leaving it in his car at home.