Darren John Anderson caught drink driving in Byron Bay
Media heavyweight Darren Anderson has found himself in hot water after consuming five vodka sodas at the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay. See why his explanation for getting behind the wheel didn’t wash at court.
Police & Courts
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Media heavyweight Darren Anderson has found himself in hot water after consuming five vodka sodas at the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay.
Darren John Anderson pleaded guilty at the Byron Bay Courthouse to getting behind the wheel with a blood alcohol reading in the middle range category of 0.117, on August 25.
The 49-year-old Byron Bay man has been in the media industry for more than 20 years and held high-profile roles including commercial integration director at Network 10 and advertising director at ACP Magazines.
He now works for Duel Entertainment.
Anderson was pulled over in his Toyota Landcruiser by police for a random breath test on Marvell Street in Byron Bay at 8.30pm, police documents state.
Three passengers were aboard, and police said they could smell a “strong odour of liquor” on Anderson.
“The accused made admissions to having consumed alcohol about five minutes prior to being stopped,” police state.
“He stated he was consuming alcohol at The Beach Hotel and had five drinks of vodka soda, with fish and salad for dinner.”
Police stated Anderson “was afforded the opportunity of a short waiting period prior to the breath test being conducted”, and he was subsequently arrested for drink driving and taken to Byron Bay Police Station.
The court heard Anderson made the decision to drive while intoxicated because his partner had a migraine.
Magistrate Karen Stafford was unimpressed by the explanation.
“People need to stop drink driving, if I could write down every excuse that people use, I could write a book. It would be very boring but there would be a few laughs,” she said.
Ms Stafford convicted Anderson, fined him $800 and disqualified him from driving for six months.
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