Daniel Battley: Property fund manager sentenced for high-range drink driving

An eastern suburbs property fund manager was judged harshly by a magistrate after a late night collision saw him arrested with a blood alcohol reading three times over the legal limit.

Bondi property manager Daniel Battley was convicted at Waverley Court.

A man living in affluent Bondi – and employed as a well-paid acquisitions manager at a property fund – has faced judgment for a shock blood alcohol reading three times the legal limit, after crashing his car coming home from the footy.

Daniel Battley, 37, was sentenced for high-range drink driving (second offence) at Waverley Local Court today.

According to facts tendered to court, Battley was driving home around 7:30pm on September 11 when he smashed into a parked car on Clovelly Rd, Randwick, spinning out before stopping in the middle of the road, his vehicle inoperable.

When police arrived at the scene witnesses directed them to Battley – who had left his car and had begun walking away.

The Bondi man refused to answer questions about how many drinks he had consumed, and when police attempted to conduct a breath test at the scene, they found they were unable to do so “because the accused was too intoxicated to comprehend how to conduct the test”.

Daniel Battley outside Waverley Court.

After a second failed attempt at a breath test, police arrested Battley and took him to Maroubra police station, the facts state.

Breath analysis returned a reading of 0.202g of alcohol in 210L of blood; three times the legal limit.

While in custody Battley was “belligerent and extremely argumentative with police,” the facts state.

He said “Daddy will take care of this” when police tried to give him his paperwork while in custody.

Battley, who represented himself in court, said he regretted the “reckless, reprehensible actions” that saw him take to the road with the eye watering blood alcohol reading.

“I thought this stage of my life was over but it’s not,” Battley said.

Battley told the court he had stopped drinking to excess since the arrest and did not wish to “waste the court’s time” by attempting to explain his drunken actions.

Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge told court she considered it “ridiculous” that the eastern suburbs man made the choice to drive at the high level of intoxication recorded by police.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Magistrate Milledge said.

The magistrate said she had to take into account that Battley was caught drunk driving because of the collision and additional danger posed to the community.

“That makes it worse,” Ms Milledge said.

She convicted Battley, fined him $3000, disqualified his drivers licence for 10 months and ordered a mandatory interlock to be placed on his vehicle for 48 months.