Queensland’s worst drink-driver escapes jail time after judge finds no evidence she endangered lives
FORGET the 0.05 blood-alcohol limit — the new rule is not to drive more than 60m, even if you are drunker than any other motorist in the State.
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FORGET the 0.05 blood-alcohol limit — the new rule is not to drive more than 60m, even if you are drunker than any other motorist in the State.
Queensland’s worst drink-driver — she blew 0.48 or almost 10 times the legal limit — has escaped without jail time after a judge found she only drove for 60m without any evidence she had endangered lives.
Angela Bisson, 42, was found slumped over the wheel of her car in Runaway Bay on October 6 last year about 12.20pm.
At her sentencing in April, the court was told she bought a bottle of vodka on the way back to work after doing the banking, mixed about 300ml of alcohol with lemonade and consumed it in a matter of minutes.
Bisson was sentenced to two months in jail but was released immediately after lodging an appeal.
During the appeal in the Southport District Court yesterday, Bisson’s sentence and licence disqualification period were slashed.
Crown prosecutor Denise Darwen told the court she had been unable to find a court case that involved a higher reading and called the case “unprecedented territory”.
Solicitor Paul Hamilton, of Potts Lawyers, said he found a case online from NSW that involved a woman who had a reading of 0.486.
“That’s the only comparative of a similar reading that I’ve seen,” he said.
Judge Clive Wall found the magistrate had sentenced Bisson in a “vacuum”, without knowing the circumstances of the offence.
He asked Bisson and her lawyer to draw a map of the scene to determine how far she had driven — from a bottleshop to near her hairdresser on Bayview St.
“Here we have at the most 60m of driving, all on the same side of the road,” he said. “There’s no evidence that any other vehicle or person was put at risk.”
Mr Wall said the magistrate did not inquire about the circumstances of the offence “as he should have”.
“To sentence an offender without a proper appreciation for the nature and extent of the driving involved is to sentence in error and to sentence on the basis only of a blood-alcohol reading.”
Mr Wall said little or no credit was given to Bisson for her early plea of guilty and her favourable background which, he said, supported a “compassionate approach” to sentencing.
Bisson’s sentence was reduced to a two-year probation order and her disqualification period cut from 30 months to two years.
Mr Hamilton said his client was happy with result.
“I was quietly confident that the appeal would succeed and Ms Bisson is looking forward to getting on with her life,” he said.
Nicola Swavley, whose father was killed by a drink-driver on the Gold Coast, said drivers did not understand the consequences of their actions.
“Those actions are reflected in cases like the one today.
“People seem to think they can do whatever they like, with little consequences,” she said.
Ted Hawkins, who killed Ms Swavley’s father while drunk behind the wheel, will find out if he can get his licence back today.
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