Craig Fitzgerald pleads guilty to charges including drink-driving

A Wonthaggi man who drove through a farm fence before blowing over two times the legal limit, got into an altercation with police over a cigarette. But that was the least of his worries.

Craig Fitzgerald pleads guilty to several charges including drink-driving and resisting police.

A cowboy hat wearing Wonthaggi man who drove through a farm fence before blowing over two times the legal limit, got into an argument with police over a cigarette.

Craig Fitzgerald, 53, pleaded guilty in the Korumburra Magistrates’ Court to damaging property, unlawful assault, careless driving, drink-driving and resisting police.

The court heard on January 11, 2020 Fitzgerald stayed at his mum’s house overnight and the next day asked his mum’s next door neighbour for a cigarette.

The victim said no and Fitzgerald became aggressive and picked up two chairs and threw one at the victim’s window.

The chair broke and Fitzgerald’s victim was frightened for their safety.

Fitzgerald yelled “just give me a f**king smoke” and used abusive language towards the victim before he left.

On January 15, Fitzgerald drove through a farm fence on Strzelecki Highway in Driffeld.

Fitzgerald’s car was damaged and after exiting the vehicle, Fitzgerald was seen drinking a can of VB.

Victoria Police conducted a breath test at Morwell Police Station a short time later and it came back with a reading of 0.101 grams of alcohol.

After finishing the test, Fitzgerald was told he was under arrest for damaging the farm fence however he became agitated and started to raise his voice at police.

Craig Fitzgerald threw his cowboy hat out of frustration after police told him he was under arrest.

Fitzgerald threw his cowboy hat towards the door and attempted to walk away.

He resisted the police officer and was restrained on the ground.

The court heard Fitzgerald said “I told him I wanted to go out for a smoke, he said I could after my photo shoot and all that”.

“Then I said ‘yes sure I’ll go have a smoke’ then he took offense to it and proceeded to f**king beat the shit out of me and rammed my elbow into a concrete floor and my head,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

At the end of the police interview Fitzgerald also said he was going “about 140km” and “couldn’t believe” he only blew .101 as he thought he was “triple the amount of that”.

Magistrate Jacinta Studham said Fitzgerald was “manic” and “unwell” with a mental health diagnosis at the time of the incidents.

Fitzgerald, who represented himself in court, said he was “devastated”.

“I wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald’s licence was cancelled and disqualified for a minimum period of 10 months and he was ordered to pay $30 for the broken chair.

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