Mildura Magistrates’ Court: Gary Davis, Yick Hong Leung and Troy Sloane plead guilty to drink driving and driving while disqualified

Mildura’s drink driving shame: A retired butcher, a grocery store manager caught drink driving and an ex-NBN connector without a licence all front court.

Three men caught drink driving have all fronted Mildura Magistrates’ Court, pleading guilty to putting the community and themselves at risk on the roads.

Gary Davis

A retired butcher crashed his car into the side of a retail department store after a night out at a local tavern.

Gary Davis, 67, pleaded guilty in Mildura Magistrates’ Court on November 21 after crashing his car into the side of a Big W store.

The court heard police attended the collision just as Davis was getting into a taxi to go home.

Davis told officers he’d just had dinner with his partner and their friend at the Gateway Tavern and were heading home when he hit the gutter of the car park, causing the car to swerve and collide with the building.

Gary Davis pleaded guilty to drink driving after crashing into the side of a Big W and blowing 0.152.

Davis underwent a breath test, returning a 0.152 reading.

He told police he’d “only drank beer and wine,” but that he’d “had a skinful”.

“I thought I was OK,” he said.

Davis’ lawyer Hugh Middleton told the court his client was “very disappointed in himself”.

“He was very frank with police when he was intercepted,” Mr Middleton said

Magistrate Michael McNamara warned Davis of the potential outcome of his actions.

“It’s a very serious thing, if someone was injured or killed you’d be spending time in prison,” he said.

“People’s lives get ruined by doing what you were doing.”

The court heard Davis had drink-driving priors which Mr McNamara took into account with his sentence.

Davis was convicted and fined $1500 and his licence was cancelled for four years.

Yick Hong Leung

A grocery store manager caught drink-driving told police he was hurrying home to his sick son.

Yick Hong Leung, 35, pleaded guilty in Mildura Magistrates’ Court on November 21 to a drink-driving charge, after being intercepted on his way home.

The father-of-two was pulled over on May 25 by patrolling officers and given a breath test.

Yick Hong Leung pleaded guilty to drink driving in Mildura Magistrates’ Court after blowing 0.105.

The court heard Leung returned a 0.105 result and his car was immediately impounded.

He told police he had been rushing home to his sick son after his wife had called him in a panic.

Magistrate Michael McNamara said the road safety laws were in place for a reason.

“You had a reading that was twice the legal limit,” he said.

“Driving with that level of alcohol in your system, you’re a danger to yourself and other members of the community.”

Mr McNamara took into account Leung’s spotless history when handing down his sentence.

Leung was fined $700 and his licence was cancelled for 10 months.

Troy Sloane

An ex-NBN connector caught driving unlicensed after losing his licence to drink driving told police he “knew he was disqualified”.

Troy Sloane, 26, pleaded guilty in the Mildura Magistrates’ Court on November 21 to driving while disqualified.

The court heard Sloane was pulled over on November 30 last year when police detected the registered driver of his gold Mazda as disqualified.

Troy Sloane pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified after being caught by officers in November last year.

The father of four identified himself to officers and admitted knowing he was disqualified from driving.

Sloane’s lawyer Sasha Tuliakiono told the court his disqualification had a serious impact on his ability to work.

“Since the disqualification my client has been on Jobseeker payments,” she said.

Magistrate Michael McNamara took Sloane’s financial circumstances into consideration.

“I’m going to impose a modest fine, it’s a lot less than a normal one, but I’m reducing it because you have no priors for driving disqualified” he said.

“But for you it will be a punishment, it’s almost a week’s worth of what you’re currently earning.”

Sloane was convicted and fined $300, and his licence will remain disqualified for the original period.