Real estate identity Emily Antill pleads guilty to high range drink driving

A Canberra woman with years of real estate experience has faced court after she crashed into a road sign near Goulburn following an afternoon on the wines.

Emily Louise Antill faced the Queanbeyan Local Court on October 9, 2023. Picture: Sam Turner

A Canberra real estate identity has faced court after crashing into a traffic sign while almost five times the legal blood alcohol limit.

Emily Louise Antill, 29, had been on the wines for several hours on July 23 before she found herself talking to police at Brisbane Grove, south of Goulburn, when she crashed into a traffic sign.

Agreed facts before Queanbeyan Local Court on Monday state the Hughes woman was drinking at a friend’s place in the ACT from 1pm to 5pm and hadn’t eaten during this time.

Court documents say police were called to Windellama Rd about 5.29pm and on arrival found a black Volkswagen Golf with “major damage” to its front along with a traffic sign across its bonnet and windscreen.

Police say Antill emerged from the bushes visibly upset, unsteady on her feet and smelling of alcohol.

Emily Louise Antill.

She told police she was the driver of the car at the time of the crash and was later breath tested at Goulburn Police station.

The 29-year-old returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.234 per cent, almost five times the legal limit.

Police believed at the time Antill was “well affected” by alcohol, was unsteady on her feet and had “slurred” speech, and stated conditions were dry along the 100km/h, sealed bitumen road.

Defence lawyer Rachel Bird said the Hughes woman had a “problematic” relationship with alcohol during the Covid shutdowns but had abstained from alcohol since the accident.

Ms Bird said the Hughes woman, who had a decade of experience in the real estate industry before working in business development, also completed rehabilitation and showed remorse and contrition.

Magistrate Roger Clisdell accepted Antill had never been in trouble with the courts before but said she was lucky she wasn’t injured after her car was “written off” when she “collected a sign”.

Antill pleaded guilty to driving with a high range PCA and was sentenced to a 12 month community correction order.

She was also fined $1500 and disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for the minimum period. A conviction was recorded.