Francesco Frustaci: Cocaine driving business owner from Berowra tells court he’s had a ‘wake up call’
A cocaine driving business owner from Berowra who successfully built a local “building design” company has been found guilty in court over a raft of charges. Find out what happened in court here.
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A business owner caught driving with cocaine in his system, who was pulled over after police noticed an unsecured load on his vehicle, has told a court it was a “wake up call”.
Francesco Kenneth Frustaci, 31, of Berowra - labelled a “motivated and hard working” individual was caught driving with unsecured planks of timber in his truck and breaching existing court orders.
The owner of Above and Beyond Built was found guilty at Hornsby Local Court on Wednesday of drive tow vehicle with unsecured load; interlock licence order - not have approved device installed and drive vehicle illicit drug present in blood.
According to police facts tendered in court, on December 19 in 2019 Frustaci was driving a white Toyota Hilux utility in a southerly direction along Beaumont Rd in Mt Ku-ring-gai when police noticed “a number of pieces of timber protruding from the tray”, only being held in place by weight.
Frustaci was pulled over and handed over his licence where police discovered he was only permitted to drive with a fitted alcohol interlock device from a previous court order.
Police facts reveal when officers asked Frustaci why there was no interlock device, he stated, “The apprentice called in sick and I had to take the ute home.”
Further, he was submitted to a roadside drug test and returned a positive result for cocaine, police facts state.
Court documents show Frustaci was arrested and taken to Hornsby Police Station for a second drug test, which also returned a positive reading and he made admissions to police over taking cocaine on Tuesday.
During sentencing at Hornsby on October 7 Frustaci’s lawyer urged the magistrate to exercise discretion stating “they were fine only offences” and her client was “motivated and hard working”.
She also revealed her client had a history of unsecured load offences.
“In his letter to the court he has set out the circumstances surrounding this. He did secure the timber and at the traffic lights he realised it was insecure and was going to pull over,” Frustaci’s lawyer said.
“In my submission he was only driving for a few minutes before he was pulled over. It’s my submission it’s at the bottom end of objective seriousness”.
Magistrate Margaret McGlynn disagreed.
“It was planks of timber which presents a danger to the public and can do damage,” Magistrate McGlynn said.
The lawyer explained why her client was driving without an interlock device.
“He had fears about his expensive tools being stolen. It’s not that he was drink driving and wanting to get away with it,” the lawyer said.
“In his mind he was responding to a fear of his tools being stolen and did not intend to deliberately get away with drink driving.
“In relation to the cocaine, two days before being pulled over by police he’d consumed two lines of cocaine. He said he wouldn’t have driven if he knew it was still in his system.”
She said her client also suffered from “anxiety and depression” and was seeking support through counselling.
Further, she stated he’d made “contributions to the community”.
“He’s a 31 year old man who runs his own business. He’s a devoted husband, son and friend.
“Due to IVF treatment he can’t pay huge fines and needs his licence to travel to sites and supervise workers, with current projects in Thornleigh, Westleigh and Berowra.”
Magistrate McGlynn said he needed to “get a handle” on his anxiety in relation to drug use, stating he wanted to become a father and because he is “an employer of many people”.
In response Frustaci said “This is a wake up call for me”.
Frustaci was ordered to pay $770 in fines and was disqualified from driving for six months.
He was also convicted and received a 12 month conditional release order.