Man faces court after reversing car on to Clarinda footpath after two bottles of red
A man who reversed a car on to a footpath outside a Clarinda pizza shop while nearly five times over the limit before a good Samritan stopped him and took his car keys has blamed his actions on being made redundant.
Inner South
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A drunk driver who was so sozzled a good Samaritan had to take the keys from his car has blamed his boozing on redundancy and red wine.
Manisekaran Periasamy, 46, faced Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court charged with drink driving last Tuesday, October 1.
The court heard Periasamy registered almost five times over the alcohol limit after a witness saw him reversing a car on to a footpath outside a pizza shop on Centre Rd, Clarinda, about 9.20pm on June 15.
The man rushed to speak to Periasamy, taking the keys from the car’s ignition and calling police after discovering he was badly affected by alcohol.
Periasamy, who recorded a blood-alcohol content of 0.232, admitted to the police he had drunk two bottles of red wine before getting behind the wheel.
He told police he “didn’t know” why he had driven while so drunk.
In court, Periasamy’s lawyer said her client — who pleaded guilty — had not previously been in trouble with the law.
She said Periasamy had accepted he had made an “extremely foolish decision” to drive.
The lawyer said her client had been drinking to manage financial pressures after being advised he was being made redundant.
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She said he was very embarrassed and had attended psychological counselling and completed a road trauma awareness course.
The lawyer said the IT specialist volunteered with refugees in the community. She asked he not be convicted as it would derail a job offer in Canada.
Magistrate Thomas Barrett disqualified Periasamy from driving for 24 months, backdated to June, and fined him $500. No conviction was recorded.