Anusha Srinivasan: Drunk driver tries to escape punishment
An investment banker left a magistrate bemused after a bold attempt to have her drink driving case dismissed. Despite blowing five times the legal limit, she applied to be back on the roads.
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An investment banker who was so drunk when she crashed her car she needed help walking has left a court bewildered after attempting to escape punishment.
Anusha Srinivasan, 49, left a trail of destruction in her wake after drinking a bottle of wine before the February afternoon crash in Marrickville, court documents state.
Boasting a resume listing some of the top banks from around the world, the police statement of facts said Srinivasan was slurring her words when police arrived on scene and recorded an alcohol reading five times the legal limit.
She had pleaded guilty to high range drink driving in March, however, her solicitor Sergio Nicolau told the Newtown Local Court on Thursday his client was seeking the case be dismissed on mental health grounds.
If successful, it would have meant Srinivasan avoiding any criminal penalty and being allowed straight back onto the roads.
“There’s a public out there and people could have been killed but she wants her licence back,” a bemused Magistrate Glenn Bartley said.
Magistrate Bartley went on to describe Srinivasan as a “potential killer”.
Mr Nicolau argued a psychologist’s report signed off before the incident occurred detailed a series of mental health issues Srinivasan suffered as a result of childhood trauma in India.
He added that Srinivasan leaving her arranged marriage, struggling to adapt to Australian culture and her high pressure job in the banking sector were all contributing factors to her offending and mental state of mind at the time of the crash.
She had blown 0.270 after a roadside breath test and had her licence suspended on the spot.
Now unemployed, Srinivasan previously worked at Deutsche Bank and Macquarie Group before landing a gig at Westpac.
Police had assumed she drove 1.2km from her Enmore home before damaging her Nissan Micra by smashing into the kerb outside the Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre on February 21.
Her matter was adjourned so Mr Nicolau could locate more material to assist in an application to have the case dismissed on mental health grounds.
Srinivasan will return to Newtown Local Court on June 24.
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