Joshua Winkler: Dubbo apprentice electrician caught drink driving after boozy night on the beers
A Dubbo electrical apprentice who drank around 24 beers the night before he was caught drink driving has fronted court. Here’s what happened.
Dubbo News
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A young second year apprentice electrician told police he drank a carton of Carlton dry cans the night before being caught drink driving on a major Dubbo highway, a court has heard.
Joshua Winkler, 20, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday, pleading guilty to mid-range drink driving after he was arrested and charged on the morning of November 6.
According to agreed facts, police were alerted to a driving complaint about Winkler’s Ford Ranger ute on the Mitchell Highway about 9.25am.
After spotting the Ford Ranger at the intersection of Victoria and Whylandra St, police pulled Winkler over a short time later.
Police told Winkler they had pulled him over for a random breath test, prompting the apprentice electrician to tell officers “he had not consumed any intoxicating alcohol in the 15 minutes prior to being stopped by police”.
He told police he had “consumed a large amount of alcohol” during the previous evening and later revealed he had “approximately 24 Carlton dry” full strength cans at a house in Narromine. Winkler said he stopped drinking about 1am.
After a positive reading to the breath test, Winkler was arrested and taken to Dubbo police station where the green P-plater recorded a breath analysis of 0.126.
On Wednesday, Winkler’s lawyer David Pheeney told the court about his client’s “great need for a licence”, explaining he travels around western NSW for work as he completes his electrical apprenticeship.
But Mr Pheeney conceded Winkler’s traffic record “goes against him” along with the high reading for a morning after offence and having travelled around 40 kilometres from Narromine back to his house in Dubbo.
Mr Pheeney asked Magistrate Gary Wilson to “consider the minimum disqualification” period.
Magistrate Wilson accepted the request, handing the 20-year-old a three month disqualification from driving, placing Winkler on a 12 month interlock program and fining him $500.
“With the amount of beer you had [drank, there is] no doubt when you stopped that morning, you [knew you] had to return a zero reading,” Magistrate Wilson said.
“You should have known that.”
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