Warnervale: Darren Stephen Hill drove 284km while drinking two bottles of port before killing 82yo Noel Nott

VIDEO: A drink-driver, who downed two bottles of port from Nowra to the Central Coast, was filmed swerving all over the road just moments before he killed an elderly man who had broken down.

A repeat drink and drug driver told a court it was unlike him to drink and drive before admitting he bought two bottles of port and drank them the entire way from Nowra to Warnervale, where he killed an elderly man.

Darren Stephen Hill, 50, faced Gosford District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death while intoxicated, refusing to provide a urine sample and possessing 3.2g of cannabis.

Hill was driving so erratically a passenger in a car travelling behind him used his mobile phone to film him as he swerved in and out of his lane, with the footage played in court.

The court heard he was also three months into a community correction order (CRO) for an unrelated common assault at the time of the collision on October 2 last year.

Hill gave evidence at his sentence hearing where he professed his remorse and devastation at killing 82-year-old Noel Nott.

“This is not who I am,” he said.

“I’ve taken a life, I have taken his life and his family have to carry on somehow.”

But under cross-examination, Hill told the court he purchased two bottles of port that morning and began taking his first sip as he was stuck in traffic just outside Nowra.

Hill drank two bottles of port. (File image)

He said he was heading home to Port Macquarie but became “completely lost” on the Central Coast some 284km away about 7.30pm.

An agreed set of facts states Mr Nott was heading east on Sparks Rd when his electric BMW hatchback ran out of charge and he got out to flag down another motorist.

However Hill, who had been seen by motorists just minutes earlier swerving all over the road, ploughed into Mr Nott as he stood on a painted traffic island adjacent to Warnervale Airport.

An autopsy would later confirm he died from “catastrophic injuries”.

Police arrived and found Hill still seated in his car with bloodshot eyes, smelling of alcohol and slurring his words.

Mobile phone footage of Hill (in the car ahead) was played in court. Image: supplied

He was taken to Wyong Police Station where he said “something came through my windscreen, and I pulled over. I did not have a crash.”

He provided a breath sample, which returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.173.

Police searched his car and found four empty bottles of 750mL Reserve Tawny Port and a small resealable bag containing 3.2g of cannabis.

Hill told the court he had been couch surfing and living out of his car for two years so the other two empty bottles were from another day.

The court heard Hill, a car detailer by trade, had been sentenced for driving with amphetamine in his system in March last year, high range drink-driving in 2019, mid range in 2012 and driving recklessly, furiously or dangerously in 2009.

“It’s not who I am, it might look like that’s who I am but ... I can’t really say any more about that I’m sorry,” he said when quizzed about why he would tell the court his offending was out of character.

Hill did admit he had been an alcoholic for many years but vowed to change.

“If I could just stay off it, life would be beautiful,” he said.

The passenger stopped filming as Hill turned off down a side street before turning back onto Sparks Rd where he struck and killed Mr Nott moments later. Image: supplied

Judge Tanya Bright said Hill’s offending was a total “abandonment of responsibility” and made more serious by how many people he endangered over such a long journey where he was very heavily intoxicated by the time he crashed.

She sentenced him to five years and seven months jail with a non-parole period of three years and four months.

With time served he will be eligible for parole on February 1, 2027.

He was also disqualified from driving for three years.