Toukley: Stephen Barry Pomare sentenced for five high range drink driving charges

A Toukley man was caught drunk behind the wheel on five occasions between May and September. His shocking blood alcohol levels were revealed at his court sentence.

A Toukley man has been sentenced after getting caught high range drink driving five times in a five month time frame.

A Toukley man has been warned he will become a “source of destruction” for himself and the community if he keeps drink driving.

Stephen Barry Pomare was caught high range drink driving five times over a five month period in 2022.

The 57-year-old appeared via video link from jail at Wyong Local Court on Monday for his sentence after pleading guilty to five counts of high range drink driving and four counts of driving a motor vehicle while his licence was suspended.

The court heard Pomare was caught behind the wheel on five occasions between May and September 2022 with his blood alcohol readings ranging from .187 to .252.

Pomare was sentenced in Wyong Local Court.

An agreed set of facts tendered to the court state that Pomare was first caught on May 16 on a trip to the Central Coast Pound on Depot Rd in Charmhaven.

Pomare entered the pound “where he was observed by staff members to be very unsteady on his feet and the smell of alcohol on his breath”, the facts stated.

Police were called to the scene, smelling “liqueur emitting from the accused’s breath”, before taking him to Toukley Police Station where he recorded a blood-alcohol level of .252 and told police he had drunk 900ml of wine that day. He was charged and had his licence suspended.

On July 22, police saw Pomare driving his Mitsubishi Triton in Toukley around 11am. When police passed him, he turned to drive in the opposite direction.

A police search found him parked outside a house on Third Ave, where he attempted to drive around the police car.

Pomare was detected on the third occasion after a random breath test.

He was taken to the police station where he recorded a blood alcohol concentration of .236 telling police he had drunk a 1.5 litre cask of wine that morning.

The third occasion saw Pomare stopped by a random breath test on Sparks Rd in Woongarrah on August 5 where police noted his flushed face, slurred speech and red and glassy eyes.

He recorded a blood-alcohol level of .187.

A member of the public reported Pomare leaving his house intoxicated on the fourth occasion, with officers from Operation Utah noting his past three offences.

He was found on Palomar Pde, where children were walking and riding after school, and told police he had drunk three bottles of wine and a beer, blowing .244.

Pomare told police he consumed cask and bottled wine in the mornings. Picture: Jason Busch

The facts stated that Pomare was trying to avoid detection on the fifth occasion on September 1 when he was caught driving a different vehicle, with his Triton parked in his driveway.

Police stopped Pomare after he was seen driving into and over gutters through Toukley CBD.

He was taken to Wyong Police Station where he recorded a blood-alcohol level of .217 and was refused bail.

“The accused is a habitual drinker as well as a habitual offender for driving whilst intoxicated,” the facts stated.

Pomare’s lawyer told the court the father of two was originally from New Zealand, moving to Australia in 1980. He told the court Pomare’s time in jail had been a wake up call where he had “sobered up” and he planned to get his life back on track.

Magistrate Stephen Olischlager said each blood alcohol reading was “extremely high” and Pomare would have been “drying out” for the past two months in jail.

He said if Pomare continued to drink, he would be a “source of destruction” for himself and the community.

“It’s a significant disregard for public safety,” he said.

Pomare was sentenced to a nine month Intensive Corrections Order which is the equivalent of a jail term served in the community with a minimum driving disqualification period of six months.

Conditions of his sentence included abstaining from alcohol and accepting treatment and counselling for alcohol abuse.