Leadfoot Wyong horse trainer Kim Waugh busted speeding, could lose business, court hears
A Central Coast horse trainer and wife of an Australian cricket great will have to “close down her business” after losing her driver’s licence for the third time, a court has heard.
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It’s no secret acclaimed Wyong trainer Kim Waugh loves fast horses.
But it appears the 62-year-old wife of Australian cricketing great Mark Waugh also loves putting her foot down after getting clocked travelling 102km/h in an 80km/h just down the road from her Jilliby acreage.
However a court has heard Waugh’s problem was she had a “terrible driving record” that included more than 30 speeding fines, as well as tickets for not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone and running red lights.
Waugh has faced Wyong Local Court where her solicitor Wayne Pasterfield contested a speeding fine Waugh copped after being pinged by a Highway Patrol officer conducting radar duties on Hue Hue Rd at 1.15pm on May 25.
Mr Pasterfield said his client was a mature age woman who had been driving for 45 years but had only now had the benefit of undertaking the traffic offenders program.
The court heard Waugh was on a good behaviour licence after racking up too many demerit points and, if she was convicted of this latest speeding fine, she would be suspended for six months.
Mr Pasterfield said the trainer had 60 horses, employed 14 staff and cared for various rescue animals, which would all be affected if she was to lose her licence.
“She would have to close down her business,” Mr Pasterfield told the court.
He said while she conceded she had a bad traffic history, none of the offences were that bad and “relevantly, she has not been suspended for 22 years”.
Mr Pasterfield appealed for the magistrate to put her on a conditional release order (CRO) without conviction but with a condition she not commit a moving traffic violation for a further 12 months.
The court heard Waugh’s existing good behaviour licence was due to expire on November 21, which Mr Pasterfield said was “in four weeks”.
But Waugh had about six months to go on the good behaviour licence when she was pulled over back in May in her 2019 blue Porsche Macan station wagon.
Waugh’s traffic record was tendered to court and showed she had more than 30 — mostly minor — speeding offences dating back to when she first got her licence in 1979.
However she lost her licence when she was busted travelling more than 45km/h over the limit in 1990, gave false details to police when she was clocked more than 30km/h over the limit in 1992 and was suspended again in 2002 for demerit points.
Magistrate John Arms said while he accepted she was a “law abiding citizen” he had to “deal with the offence itself” and could not take into account the consequences of what could follow from a conviction in the sentencing exercise.
He said she was already given an opportunity to keep driving when she was issued a good behaviour licence but had blown it.
“Her driving record is terrible,” he said.
Mr Arms convicted Waugh and fined her $200 “with [demerit] points to follow”.