Zaidyn Leigh Tweed: South Australian teenager caught drink driving twice in six hours

A teenager from SA’s South East caught drink driving twice within a six hour period in NSW’s central west told police “this is funny”. See what happened in court.

Zaidyn Leigh Tweed from South Australia appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.

A South Australian teenager was amused after he was caught drink driving for the second time in six hours in the state’s central west, a court has heard.

Zaidyn Leigh Tweed, 19, of Mount Gambier, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday pleading guilty to mid-range and low-range drink driving and drive when visiting privileges withdrawn.

According to an agreed set of facts tendered to court, Tweed was spotted by police about 7.25pm on October 29 driving 97km/h in a white Toyota Landcruiser on Whylandra St with a 60km/h speed limit.

After stopping Tweed a short time later, he produced a South Australian provisional licence and he was informed about being pulled over for speeding.

A roadside breath test returned a positive reading with Tweed telling police he consumed “just one” drink while repeatedly saying “this is funny”. He was arrested and recorded a reading of 0.122 when back at Dubbo police station.

Zaidyn Leigh Tweed from South Australia appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.

When released from custody, Tweed once again told officers “this is funny” and continued to say “I will see you in about 20 minutes because I am going to go back to [my] car and drive again”.

Agreed facts indicate Tweed “showed a complete disregard for the community”, finding the offence funny and sharing a police certificate “with mates” on Snapchat.

Around midnight on October 30, Tweed was again pulled over after police “received numerous calls” about the 19-year-old driving around Dubbo under the influence of alcohol.

He was seen to be the “sole occupant” before being subjected to a roadside breath test, recording a positive reading and asked to get out of the Landcruiser.

After insisting on smoking a cigarette, he was arrested and handcuffed with agreed facts revealing Tweed “thought the entire incident was amusing”, later telling police he thought he could drive “until the next day”.

Back at the station, Tweed returned a reading of 0.064, and charged with low-range drink driving and drive when visiting privileges withdrawn.

On Wednesday, Tweed told the court “the only reason I drove the second time was to get my mate to hospital … I thought I was sober”.

“But you were already suspended,” Magistrate Gary Wilson replied.

Ultimately Tweed was convicted and fined $550 for the two drink driving offences and a further $200 for drive when visiting privileges withdrawn.

Magistrate Wilson backdated the teenager’s three month disqualification to October 29 and he will be required to install a mandatory interlock device in his car.