Doreen: Newton Benyera crashes into car on Windermere Pde
A P-plater managed to crash into a parked car on his way home from work drinks. But he then made the situation even worse by refusing to co-operate with police.
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A P-plater who crashed into a parked car on his way home from work drinks has been taken off the roads for four years.
Newton Benyera tested positive to having alcohol in his system when police caught up with him straight after the smash, but refused to provide a BAC reading back at the police station, Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court has heard.
The incident on June 1, 2019 was the second time the young driver was involved in a crash while under the influence, with the 23-year-old having been charged with drink driving and failing to report a road accident in 2017.
“You keep drinking and driving and having collisions,” Magistrate Jennifer Tregent said at Benyera’s sentencing on Thursday, March 12.
The court heard he was driving home from Mernda railway station after drinking at a work function in the early hours of June 1 when he slammed into a car parked on Windermere Pde, Doreen, causing significant damage.
A witness came out of their house upon hearing the crash and told police he saw Benyera driving away in an “erratic manner”.
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The court heard police were called to the street and breath tested Benyera, who had stayed near the scene, but when they took him back to the station he refused further testing.
Ms Tregent said Benyera was “silly” to not have done the test, because refusal meant he had to lose his licence for much longer than if he had returned a high reading, according to the law.
Benyera pleaded guilty to refusing to undergo a breath test after being a driver involved in a collision, careless driving and not displaying his P-plates.
His licence was cancelled for four years and Ms Tregent said he would have to have an interlock fitted in his car when he was back on the roads.
He was also fined $1200.