Deadly message ignored as drivers risk lives with drink and drug driving

A health worker and mother of three with a history of drink driving was among multiple people who lost their licences today as police please fall on deaf ears and our road toll climbs.

A southeast Queensland court has heard we are on track to having one of the worst years for road fatalities as multiple defendants pleaded guilty to drink and drug driving.

Appearing at the Cleveland Magistrates Court today a number of drivers lost their right to drive for months and copped significant fines.

Kyle Tristan Pocock, 34, at first did the right thing when he caught an Uber from a social event only to be intercepted by police a short time later driving while over the limit with “quite a significant reading”.

The court heard Redland Bay man Pocock, a warehouse worker, was intercepted by police at around 12:20am on October 31 at a Boundary Street car park after first observed by police on Double Jump Road.

Tests would confirm he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.126, referred to by police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Duncan Blackburn as “quite a significant reading”.

The court heard Pocock told police he was diabetic and had driven to buy some soft drink.

Magistrate Deborah Vasta acknowledged the man’s otherwise “very good traffic history”. Pocock was disqualified from driving for three months and fined $800.

Redland Bay health worker Jodi Roberts, 43, was fined $1,500 and disqualified from driving for three months after blood tests revealed she had a blood alcohol-level “as high as you can get in low range” at 0.099 per cent.

Jodi Roberts. Picture: Facebook.

The court heard Roberts was intercepted by police at around 10.40am on March 4 on Shore Street in Cleveland but would have to wait for blood tests after officers would not conduct an on-road test, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sen Sgt Blackburn said the mother of three’s offending was made worse by her previous court appearances for drink driving which “appeared not to have had a deterrent affect”.

However, defence solicitor Bruce Johnston said his client, who works at a Redland Bay surgery, was deeply ashamed, had completed the Queensland Traffic Offenders Program and had sought comprehensive mental health support.

Having been convicted of two or more drink driving offences within a five-year period Roberts was also ordered to use an alcohol interlocking device when her licence is reinstated.

Alexandra Hills man Todd Weller, 29, admitted in court that he should never have used drugs to start with after he pleaded guilty to driving with both cannabis and methamphetamine in his system.

The court heard Weller had just arrived in Bundaberg on a trip from Brisbane when he was intercepted by police at around 1.26pm August 13.

Having made admissions to police of recent drug use during the Bundaberg intercept, Sen Sgt Blackburn today said Weller’s answer to police during the stop of “hardly ever” using drugs was not good enough when it came to driving.

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With a 2018 drug offence on his history, an unrepresented Weller said he thought the substances were out of his system when he drove.

The defendant was disqualified from driving for one month and fined $700.

With no other driving offences on his record Weller was granted a work licence for commuting between 4.30am – 7pm.

Kim Karen Newton, 51, of Victoria Point copped a $700 fine and one-month suspension for driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.086 per cent on May 19.

The court heard Newton was the driver of a vehicle intercepted by police on Double Jump Road after officers were initially called to reports of a fight at the Victoria Point KFC at around 7.30pm.

With a “fair amount of history” to her name Newton, the court heard, made admissions to police on the night of recent drinking.