Colin Howard: Batemans Bay man charged after road rage attack on police

An elderly, drunk driver has been charged after he swore and gave police the finger during a road rage incident on the NSW south coast.

Colin Howard leaving Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday.

‘You f--king idiot’ were the words of a drunk driver who also gave police officers the bird when they attempted to overtake his slow moving, swerving car, a court has heard.

The road rage incident saw Colin Howard, 75, wind up in Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday, pleading guilty to a charge of mid range drink driving.

Documents tendered to the court reveal the Batemans Bay man was driving his 2016 Volkswagen Golf along Orient St on the morning of December 21, when police officers travelling in the opposite direction found him to be swerving and travelling at a “very slow speed”.

As a result, the officers began to follow Howard closely before attempting to overtake him.

The overtake manoeuvre angered Howard, according to agreed facts, who promptly stuck his middle finger out the window at the marked highway patrol car, before swearing profanities at the police.

Officers slowed down, moving back behind the 75-year-old man and activated warning lights.

Howard took the officers down various streets, from Beach Rd to Perry St before finally pulling over in a vacant parking space on Clyde Rd.

Colin Howard was sentenced in Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday.

Agreed facts state police approached Howard’s window before questioning him as to why he acted the way he did toward them.

“I’ve got a bit of s--t going on,” agreed facts state Howard replied.

However, during the confrontation, police could smell the intoxicating scent of liquor coming from the car’s cabin, before observing an empty bottle of wine in the car’s bottle holder.

Officer’s then asked Howard if he had any drinks, to which he replied “I’ve had a few wines”.

A breath test was promptly completed, returning a positive reading of .117 – two and a half times the legal limit.

Howard was arrested and taken to Batemans Bay Police Station, where a second blood alcohol reading returned the same result.

He was charged, had his licence suspended and issued a court attendance notice.

In court on Monday, a self represented Howard said he shouldn’t have stuck his middle finger at the police.

“Yeah that was bad on my part,” he said.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

Magistrate Doug Dick agreed, noting the officers were simply doing their job.

“I’ve read your letter and I can see you’re remorseful,” Mr Dick said.

Before sentencing, Howard asked Mr Dick if he would be able to be punished with just a licence suspension and without having to install an interlock device into his car.

“You could technically, but the suspension would be five years,” Mr Dick said.

“Five years? Yeah, f--k that,” Howard replied.

Howard was convicted, fined $800, had his licence disqualified for three months and will need to have an interlock device installed for 12 months once his licence returns.

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