Peter Ebbage: Croydon driver blew double day after boozy sesh
A Croydon handyman goes well with a hammer and nails but isn’t so hot at counting drinks before getting behind the wheel.
South East
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A handyman was not so handy when it came to adding up his drink tally before getting behind the wheel, blowing well over twice the legal limit the morning after a big boozy session.
Peter Ebbage was nabbed by cops in a random stop at 11am with an alcohol reading of .127 – even though he should have been zero.
The Croydon 41-year-old also didn’t have an interlock in the Ford station wagon he was driving, which he should have had due to his terrible traffic history.
The handyman maintenance business owner pleaded guilty to drink-driving and failing to have an interlock device fitted at the online Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The court heard Ebbage was pulled over in Emerald in July 2019 and breath-tested, registering .127.
As someone with an interlock condition on his licence he shouldn’t have had any alcohol in his system when driving a car.
He told police he thought he was “totally under” and the car didn’t have an interlock because it wasn’t his vehicle.
He lost his licence on the spot.
Ebbage has a prior for drink-driving within the last 10 years, meaning his ban would automatically be doubled.
His defence lawyer said he had a disagreement with his partner that morning so jumped in the car to remove himself from the argument.
He said although Ebbage had been drinking heavily the night before he genuinely thought he would be under the limit.
He said since that day he had not committed any further offences and had enrolled in a road safety course.
Magistrate Suzette Dootjes said the situation was very concerning, especially as he was a repeat offender.
“It was a very high reading for the morning after,” Ms Dootjes said.
“You created such a danger to the community and yourself.”
Ebbage was convicted, fined a total of $1400 and disqualified for the mandatory minimum of 24 months, backdated to July 2019.
He can apply for his licence again in around three months, but will likely have another interlock condition imposed.
