Mark Renouf: Mornington drunk crashed into marked, parked cop car

‘Objects are closer than they appear’: A boozer who necked too many brews at the pub hit a police car mirror on his way home.

‘Objects are closer than they appear’: A boozy boss who had too many brews hit the side mirror of a parked police car on his way home from the pub.

A sozzled swerver on his way home from having a few bevvies with his buddies at a Mornington hotel crashed into the side of a cop car, a court has heard.

Mark James Renouf had failed to notice the stationary police vehicle and hit its side mirror, shattering plastic all over the street.

Unsurprisingly this piqued the interest of officers, who then went over to Renouf’s Holden ute and asked the driver what was going on.

The Mornington 60-year-old was nervous, red-eyed and smelt of alcohol.

He was breath tested and registered well over twice the legal limit, losing his licence and his vehicle on the spot.

Renouf pleaded guilty to drink driving at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The court heard a marked police car was parked in a Mornington street at 7.20pm on December 14 last year when Renouf’s ute came towards it.

As he drove past he misjudged the space he didn’t have, and hit the side mirror of the cop car.

His ute’s mirror smashed, causing plastic to fall onto the ground, before he slowed up and pulled over.

He then blew .117, telling police he had been at a nearby hotel drinking with mates and had only had two standard drinks.

His ute was impounded for 30 days, and he was suspended from driving.

Defence lawyer Shae Holmes said Renouf, who runs a roof restoration business, had been at a hotel after work drinking with some friends.

She said he didn’t think he would be over the limit and didn’t have a problem with alcohol, as he was only a social drinker.

She said her client was remorseful, this was his first drink-drive indiscretion and he had been hurt financially with impound fees and missing out on work due to having no licence.

Magistrate Vicky Prapas said this incident clearly demonstrated the impact alcohol has on a driver.

“You misjudged the distance,” Ms Prapas said.

“Clearly it skewed your perspective.

“Imagine if it had been a child trying to cross the road.”

Renouf was convicted, fined $1000 and disqualified for 11 months, backdated to December last year.