Boozy driver Mervin Naylor pleads guilty to drink-driving after 10 VBs

A Narooma man was supposed to be celebrating his birthday, but his boozy driving in the Illawarra earlier this year found him in ‘a lot of trouble’.

Narooma man Mervin Naylor outside Kiama Courthouse. Picture: Dylan Arvela

A South Coast man’s 38th birthday was spent in a courtroom after he was caught driving erratically while five times over the blood alcohol limit from sinking 10 VBs.

Police noticed the Narooma man Mervin Naylor driving a white Subaru Forester erratically along Shellharbour Rd, Warilla, about 3.40am on Thursday, September 8 this year.

He pleaded guilty in Kiama Local Court on his birthday to high-range drink driving.

Documents tendered in court said Naylor was drifting in and out of lanes, with the standard of driving deteriorating once they turned their lights on to get him to pull over.

Instead of pulling over on the side of the road, Naylor mounted the concrete median strip in the middle of the main road before coming to a halt.

Mervin Naylor mounted a median strip after police turned on their lights.

The documents detailed how Naylor “smelt of intoxicating liquor” and admitted he had been on the booze prior to getting behind the wheel, telling officers he had downed 10 cans of Victoria Bitter beer in the hours prior.

The officers conducted a roadside breath test with Naylor returning a reading of 0.254.

The court heard on Monday it was the second time he had been caught high-range drink driving.

Magistrate Claire Girotto labelled it as an “extremely high reading”, saying Naylor was “in a lot of trouble here” given he had previously served a custodial sentence for similar offences.

The magistrate ordered for a sentencing assessment report to be completed, with Naylor set to learn his fate in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.