Nepalese national Suman Pokharel caught drink driving in Engadine

A magistrate has questioned the honesty of a drink driver who told police he had one and a half wines the night before being caught more than two times over the limit.

Suman Pokharel leaving Sutherland Local Court on Thursday after being sentenced. Picture: Dylan Arvela

A Nepalese national was busted drink driving for the second time in three years after cops caught him driving suspiciously slow on the Princes Highway.

Suman Pokharel told officers he had less than two glasses of wine the night before being pulled over. However, the explanation was quickly dismissed by a magistrate when he was sentenced in Sutherland Local Court on Thursday.

Pokharel, 35, pleaded guilty to mid-range drink driving and driving while disqualified before Magistrate Philip Stewart sentenced him to a 12-month community correction order.

The court heard Pokharel was convicted of mid-range drink driving in 2021 and was kicked off the road for five years as a result.

This punishment, however, did not stop the Bardia man from getting behind the wheel on the morning of June 8, last month.

Documents tendered in court state police noticed Pokharel driving a Nissan Navara well below the speed limit at Engadine about 6.30am.

Police followed Pokharel who pulled over as a result. The offender blew over the limit before being taken to Sutherland police station for further analysis.

Pokharel told police he had one and a half glasses of wine the night before being caught. Picture: Dylan Arvela

At the station, Pokharel returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.120 – well over two times the legal limit.

He told officers it was a result of him consuming one and a half short glasses of white wine the evening before.

“I simply don’t accept that at all,” Mr Stewart said when hearing this explanation in court on Thursday.

“(The alcohol) would have left his system.”

The court heard due to Pokharel’s 2021 offence, he was disqualified from driving until 2026, after he opted against accepting a 12-month interlock order.

Court documents state Pokharel was using a Nepalese driver’s licence at the time of the first offence meaning he was no longer able to use it in Australia.

In addition to the CCO, Mr Stewart disqualified him from driving for a further nine months.

The magistrate also fined Pokharel $1500 and ordered a mandatory interlock device be fitted to his vehicle for two years after he is allowed to resume driving.