David Warwick Morieson: Dee Why lawyer caught driving while disqualified 10 times in 43 days
A Sydney solicitor has been caught behind the wheel 10 times in just six weeks after his licence was disqualified for drink driving. See what happened in court.
Manly
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A Sydney solicitor has been caught behind the wheel 10 times in just 43 day after his licence was disqualified for drink driving.
David Warwick Morieson, 52, who works for a legal firm at Dee Why, told cops he had to use his Mercedes CLS250 to get to the office because he was under financial stress due to hefty mortgage repayments.
Morieson, of Beecroft, was before Manly Local Court on Wednesday for driving without his licence at Dee Why on 10 occasions between May 1 and June 13.
The court also heard that he had been stopped by police at Beacon Hill in December and at Edgecliff in April for the same offence.
Described by police in documents tendered to court as “habitually driving while disqualified”, Morison told the court that he had to drive so he could get to work to keep earning a wage.
He told Magistrate Lisa Stapleton that his monthly mortgage repayments had jumped massively and that he recently sold the family home to meet his financial commitments.
Morieson pleaded guilty to 12 counts of drive motor vehicle during disqualification period. He had been disqualified after being convicted of mid-range drink driving.
In a police facts sheet tendered to court, police stated that after he was stopped at Edgecliff on April 26, officers began an investigation into Morieson’s driving activities.
Police secured CCTV footage of Morieson driving the Mercedes into and out of a Wilson car park in Oaks Ave, Dee Why, on nine occasions – May 1, 3, 6, 7, 14, 16, 28 and 29 as well as on June 5. Security cameras also captured him behind the wheel in an open air public car park in Oaks Ave on June 13.
Morieson, who represented himself in court, said he was taking medication for ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).
“(It) results in poor decision making,” he said.
When asked why he did not use public transport, Morieson told the court he sometimes caught a Metro train from Beecroft to Chatswood, and then a bus to Dee Why, to get to his office.
Magistrate Stapleton ordered that NSW Community Corrections prepare a sentence assessment report.
She adjourned the matters for sentencing in Manly court on September 11.
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