Stephen James Pateman convicted of mid-range drink driving
Character references from high profile members of the community, including a State MP, have been heard in court after a man pleaded guilty to drink driving.
Police & Courts
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A drink driver who was caught after relenting to “peer pressure” was seen by police swerving on the road in an incident a magistrate said could have been catastrophic.
Gulmarrad fisherman Stephen James Pateman, 42, faced Maclean Local Court on Thursday on a charge of mid-range drink driving.
His solicitor Nicole McLennan told the court her client’s decision to continue drinking on the evening of October 29 was the result of peer pressure before getting behind the wheel to drive his friends home.
“He made a bad judgment call and realises he shouldn’t have driven; he’s truly ashamed of his actions,” Ms McLennan said.
She said State Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis, former Clarence Valley Council mayor and current candidate Dr Ian Tiley and even a retired police officer provided character references for Pateman.
However, Magistrate Kathy Crittenden said there were serious elements of Pateman’s mid-range drink driving charge that had not been addressed.
“There is a significant feature in this matter that was not mentioned, and that’s where police have described his manner of driving which could have been catastrophic,” Ms Crittenden said.
“It’s true that police pulled him over for a breath test, but that was after they watched him swerving and crossing over into the southbound lane.”
Ms Crittenden said Pateman, who pleaded guilty to the charge at the first opportunity, was travelling along Brooms Head Road when he was pulled over by police for the breath test and returned a reading of .108.
Ms Crittenden also pointed out a female passenger was in the car at the time of the incident.
“You have very impressive character references, but I’m not persuaded to not take into account the seriousness of the matter,” she said.
Pateman was convicted of the offence and fined $400.
He was also disqualified from driving for three months along with a mandatory interlock order.
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