South Grafton meth driver Donald Edwin Brodie fined and disqualified

“I need a slap in the back of the head”: A Grafton meth driver’s heart-to-heart and his efforts since offending have earned him respect. See what the Magistrate said.

“I just got into one of those holes and it’s got me nowhere.”

This was the frank admission South Grafton meth driver Donald Edwin Brodie gave the magistrate in Grafton Court on Monday.

The 49-year-old faced a charge of driving with illicit drugs in his blood-methamphetamine and tetrahydrocannabinol, on September 3, 2021.

“I was stupid, I was an idiot,” Mr Brodie said.

“I was a daily user and I’ve come right down where I don’t think about it.”

Magistrate Kathy Crittenden replied to Mr Brodie with the same candour.

“You’re too old for this stuff,” she said.

Donald Brodie leaves Grafton Court after a heart-to-heart with the magistrate.

However Ms Crittenden was impressed by Mr Brodie’s efforts since the offence which included buying himself a drum kit, his voluntary completion of the Magistrate’s Early Referral Into Treatment program and his co-operation with the program’s team.

“It is never too late and never too late to turn things around and you have shown you can do it,” she told him.

“Some good things came out of this,” Mr Brodie answered.

With a guilty plea already entered, Mr Brodie was fined $200 and disqualified from driving for six months.

In closing the matter, Magistrate Crittenden had some final words for Mr Brodie.

“Stay off the road and good luck,” she said.