Tradie “on the precipice of jail” after drunken car crash
A tradie apprentice on his P-plates, who got behind the wheel while drunk and rolled his Toyota Hilux, has been given a dressing down in court.
A magistrate has delivered a spray to a Silverdale teen who rolled his ute will drunk, saying “you wouldn’t last five minutes in prison.
Shea Devine, 19, fronted Picton Local Court on Thursday over a single charge of high-range drink driving when he decided to drive home after a big afternoon on the beers.
Documents tendered by NSW Police state on September 11 about 7.30pm, the P-plater left a friend’s house in his white Toyota Hilux with the intent of driving home despite consuming a significant amount of alcohol.
Upon encountering a “large, sweeping bend” while heading northbound on Silverdale Road, Devine lost control of the ute, “veering off the roadway and colliding with brush, trees and fence pailings, subsequently rolling the motor vehicle several times”.
Neighbours were alerted to the incident by the “ungodly sound of a collision” according to police facts, and rushed to the scene where they encountered Devine exiting the vehicle.
Devine had a gash above his right eye, and kept telling witnesses at the scene that his “friend” was in the vehicle with him,
However, police said there was no evidence to suggest anybody else had ever been in the vehicle. He was breathtested and blew 0.165, according to police facts.
The apprentice tradie was berated by Magistrate Donald McLennan, who said there were “a number of aggravating features” dictating his sentence.
“You’ve only had your license for a short period of time and it’s (police charge) definitely not something you’ll put up and frame at home. Whatever you’re doing, you need to stop. You’re not a good driver,” Mr McLennan said.
“You’re on the precipice of jail, and you wouldn’t last five minutes in jail. To go to jail for a traffic offence is the most ridiculous thing, this is a really serious offence.”
Mr McLennan told the defendant he was “lucky” that his parents were only called by police to say he was injured rather than dead.
“You have to think of them and you have to think of yourself. If you come back before court with any of these type of matters, you’re off to jail.”
Devine was supported by his parents in court, and his lawyer Benjamin Brown, who
acknowledged “it could have been a much worse outcome on the day”.
Mr Brown said that while Mr Devine had “no memory of what happened,” he did acknowledge the severity of the situation.
“This matter has brought him to having a wake-up call. There is some difficulty in any situation that would take his license away, but he understands that is a natural consequence of his actions,” Mr Brown said.
Devine was convicted and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order, fined $800 and disqualified from driving for eight months, with a 24-month driving interlock to come into effect when he is eventually allowed to drive again.
