400 Thunder dragracer Wayne Newby sentenced over drug-fuelled crash
A champion dragracer has faced court after the dose of the drug speed he takes with his morning coffee caused him to drive his ute across western Sydney with shredded tyres.
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A champion dragracer who took a teaspoon of the drug speed with his morning coffee has fronted court after crashing into oncoming traffic with two shredded tyres.
Wayne Frederick Newby was sentenced at Fairfield Local Court today (Wednesday) after pleading guilty to negligent driving and dangerous driving under the influence of drugs.
Newby, who has won the 400 Thunder Australian Professional Drag Racing Series, has been fined and has his licence suspended after crashing his car on a suburban street last year.
The 44-year-old man from Erskine Park was driving his Holden Crewman on Chifley St, Smithfield, at 10.35am on July 3, 2019, when he lost control at a roundabout, mounted a median strip, took out a street sign and drove into oncoming traffic with “two passenger side tyres … completely shredded down to the rims”, according to the agreed police statement of facts.
He continued on the incorrect side of the road before crashing into a Toyota Rav4. No one was injured.
“(Newby) would talk extremely slow, he was clumsy and unsteady on his feet” immediately after the crash, police said in a statement of facts.
“He appeared very nervous and his hands were shaking. At times when talking, he would stutter and/or slur his words to the point it was impossible to understand.”
A blood and urine analysis returned positive results for the drugs methylamphetamine (also known as speed) and alprazolam.
Newby had been taking a teaspoon of speed with his morning coffee to help him work 60 hours a week at his Smithfield business Newby Engineering, his defence lawyer told the court.
“He’s said it’s been particularly difficult to be abstinent from this drug,” his lawyer said. “He didn’t understand that this drug was methamphetamine.”
Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis said the police statement of facts “do not paint a pretty picture”.
“(Newby) has many things to be grateful for, including that he has not injured anyone else or killed anyone else.”
“To his credit, he’s done something about it. This was a drug that was added to his coffee every morning for the purposes of performing his duties as a heavy vehicle driver.”
He said a conviction was required due to the seriousness of the offence, and to “act as a general deterrent to those who may be inclined to offend in a similar way with a heavy vehicle licence … in circumstances where this was back then a way of life.”
The court fined Newby a total of $1400 and had his licence suspended for 12 months. He handed it over to the court immediately after the hearing’s conclusion.