Cobbitty man sentenced after drunkenly riding bike with toddler in lap in Oran Park

A man drank six cans of VB in less than two hours before riding his dirt bike in Oran Park without a helmet or a licence, but with his 18-month old son on his lap.

A young father who downed six cans of beer before riding a motorbike with his toddler has been warned by the magistrate that a jail sentence could have been on the table.

The young man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Picton court on Thursday for sentence after pleading guilty to mid range drink driving and riding a motorcycle while he was unlicensed.

At 6.45pm on February 12, Macarthur Highway Patrol spotted the 28-year-old man driving an unregistered dirt bike without a helmet along Dick Johnson Drive in Oran Park.

When police pulled the Cobbitty resident over, checks showed the father-of-one was not licenced to drive a motorbike and that the dirt bike was unregistered and uninsured.

His toddler, aged 18 months, was sitting on his lap and wearing a pushbike helmet.

A 28-year-old man appeared at Picton Local Court on April 28 for sentencing after he drank six beers and drove an unregistered motorbike with his toddler as a passenger. Picture: Annie Lewis

A roadside breath test returned a positive result for alcohol and the 28-year-old tradie told police he’d drunk six 375ml cans of VB in less than two hours.

At the police station, the tradie returned a breath test reading of 0.117 – more than twice the legal alcohol limit for drivers.

In court on Thursday, the man told the magistrate that a family member sent him the social media post by police and he was “ashamed”. He said people had figured out who he was by the logo on his jumper and had sent death threats.

The man told the court he was “really ashamed” and “very sorry” and it “will never happen again”.

Magistrate Douglass said the actions taken by the man were “extremely dangerous” and it was further aggravated by the presence of a young passenger.

Macarthur Highway Patrol arrested a man at Oran Park on February 12, 2022 after he was caught drink-driving on an unregistered trail bike with a toddler on his lap.

He said it was a serious offence that carries a possible jail sentence.

Magistrate Douglass said the message needs to be clear that for offences such as this there will be “serious consequences”.

“I do accept the journey of travel was relatively short and that is he an experienced motorbike rider,” he said.

“But, with that concentration of alcohol those skills would have been extremely diminished.”

Magistrate Douglass sentenced the man to a community corrections order for eight months and ordered him to complete 100 hours of community service.

He has also been disqualified from driving for three months and will need to have an interlock device fitted to his car for 12 months.