Ingham court: Eight plead guilty to drink or drug driving in Hinchinbrook
A shamed farmer, a Domino’s driver and an immigrant who crashed into a house were among eight people charged with drink or drug driving.
Townsville
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A deeply embarrassed cane farmer, a pizza-delivery driver and an immigrant who crashed her vehicle into a house were among eight people who pleaded guilty to drink or drug driving in the same North Queensland court on the same day.
First in the dock in the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday was Tristan Anthony Catchinda, 26, a driver for Domino’s, who was busted driving over the no-alcohol limit on a probationary licence on November 25.
Queensland Police Service prosecutor Lisa Plessius said the defendant, who had a previous drug-drive conviction, returned a reading of 0.028 grams of alcohol per 210 litres of breath.
Defence lawyer Defence lawyer Margaret Crowther said the drink-drive incident, which was non-work related, was the result of a miscalculation.
She her client and Domino’s would suffer from any driving-disqualification period.
Catchinda was convicted, fined $200 And disqualified from driving for the minimum-mandatory three months.
Mark Guazzo
Herbert River canefarmer Mark Joseph Guazzo, 47, a married father of two, pleaded guilty to driving with the dangerous drug methylamphetamine, known as ice, in his system after he was busted on Cemetery Road at 1.03pm on November 16.
Defence lawyer Elaine Maree of Townsville-based Salt Legal said her client worked as a farmhand on the family property “and hopes to one day manage that farm”.
“He’s a respected member of the community as you can see from the two character references,” she said.
“He’s remorseful for his behaviour and understands the strain he has placed on his family, especially his wife and his parents who now have to (drive) to and from work and the children to and from school.”
Ms Maree said the defendant was taking additional steps to deal with underlying issues relating to the incident, steps that were lauded by Magistrate Susan Warrington.
Guazzo was convicted, fined $350 and disqualified from driving for the minimum-mandatory one month.
Stephen Maeseele
Stephen James Maeseele pleaded guilty to driving with the presence of cocaine in his system after he was busted at a police roadblock on Halifax Road, Ingham, on November 12.
The driver for a Townsville-based bitumen-haulage business also applied for a work-licence
Magistrate Warrington noted that the defendant had a previous drink-drive conviction, although that was from more than 10 years prior, but was remorseful and had completed the Queensland Traffic Offenders Program (QTOP).
“You have explained in your affidavit that there were significant stressors in your family’s life at the time, you did make a very poor decision but based on what you’ve written it’s probably unlikely that we will see you back before this court for this type of offence in the future.”
Maeseele was convicted, fined $350 and disqualified from driving for six weeks.
The work licence was approved.
Leslie Leishman
Leslie Ronald Gordon Leishman pleaded guilty to low-range drink driving – 0.06 BAC – on Townsville Road, Ingham on October 28.
He was convicted, fined $300 and disqualified from driving for one month.
Kylie Shadbolt
A Cairns woman with a shocking history of high-range drink-drive offences was told she was staring down the barrel of a prison sentence – even if wholly suspended – when she appeared in the Ingham Magistrates Court.
Kylie Noele Shadbolt, from Cairns, pleaded guilty to driving well over four times the legal limit with a BAC of 0.221 in Ingham on January 5.
Ms Plessius said that when the defendant was pulled over on a suburban Ingham street at 12.45am she had “flushed cheeks, glassy eyes and smelled of liquor”.
“She told police she had been drinking with her boyfriend at Balgal Beach, had been drinking champagne, had an argument, she’s slept for a few hours and then decided to leave intending to go home.”
Ms Plessius said there were no drink-drive convictions in the last five years but there were a number of relevant entries of a like nature.
Shadbolt, who was self-represented, requested that she pay a higher fine for a lower disqualification period.
Magistrate Warrington told Shadbolt that she “couldn’t buy your way out of a disqualification”.
“Given your history and this reading, I think it is a very serious example of this type of offence and I’m not looking at a fine, I think it’s too serious for a fine,” she said.
“I’m actually considering a term of imprisonment, not one that you have to serve in a corrections facility, but I think it’s at that stage where that’s a consideration … just because of the number of entries on your history.”
Magistrate Warrington said Shadbolt – who had a previous reading of 0.314 from a prior offence – had previously been sentenced to probation, which had not had an impact on her offending.
“You’re going to kill someone if you keep behaving this way.”
Shadbolt, whose body began shaking uncontrollably, accepted Magistrate Warrington’s advice to seek legal representation.
The sentencing was adjourned to Cairns on February 20.
Jasern Sano
A young Townsville woman was nearly three times the legal alcohol limit when she hit a parked vehicle and drove into a house – and then tried to deny responsibility – in a bizarre incident in Cordelia on Friday, December 8.
Jasern Sano, 24, a recent immigrant from the Philippines, pleaded guilty via telephone to the sole charge of driving over the middle-alcohol limit with a BAC of 0.144 on Eddleston Drive at 8pm.
Ms Plessius said police were called to reports a vehicle had struck a parked Land Rover, crashed through a fence, wedged itself in a house and “was attempting to reverse out”.
She said the defendant – who was visibly affected by alcohol – “claimed she was a passenger in the vehicle and was not the driver”.
“Police observed that she was attempting to downplay the situation, saying that she ‘was going to pay for everything’ and ‘people make mistakes’.”
Ms Plessius said Sano, who works as a console operator at a Night Owl outlet in Townsville, continued to blame her friend, who was the sole passenger in the vehicle, before she was transported to Ingham Police Station and confessed.
Defence lawyer Jamie Scuderi, also appearing by phone, lodged an application for a work licence.
“This is out of character, she has an effectively unblemished traffic record, she has no criminal history … and Your Honour can be satisfied that she is a fit-and-proper person to be … driving a vehicle.”
Sano was convicted, fined $750 and disqualified from driving for seven months.
The work licence application was granted.
Ellen Thornhill
“I know I’m over. I know I’ve done a naughty thing.”
These were the words Ellen Delphine Thornhill told police officers when she was busted driving almost four times the legal allowable alcohol limit on the Bruce Highway at 9.15am on November 3.
Thornhill, who was self-represented, pleaded guilty to the sole charge of drink driving with a BAC of 0.186.
Ms Plessius said police were called to reports of a vehicle driving erratically near Cardwell before intercepting the defendant’s vehicle near Tully.
The unemployed woman said it was her first such offence.
Magistrate Warrington said the incident was serious.
“It’s a concerning reading; you were observed swerving all over the road, that’s what brought you to the attention of police,” she said.
“The Bruce Highway is a very dangerous road at the best of times made even more so when people get behind the wheel with a reading of 0.186.”
Thornhill was convicted, fined $800 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Vicki-Mae Hooker
Vicki-Mae Hooker admitted to driving with two dangerous drugs in her system twice in a two-week period.
Ms Plessius said Hooker, who had a previous relevant conviction, was busted with cannabis in her system on November 2 and both cannabis and meth on November 20.
She said she had a medical certificate for medicinal cannabis and had taken steps to rectify how the drug was ingested.
Hooker said the lack of a driving licence had made life extremely difficult, including with her employment, transporting her children to and from school and accessing a pharmacy.
She was convicted, fined a total of $500 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Jay Smith
Jay Aaron Smith pleaded guilty to counts each of driving without a licence and drug driving after cannabis and meth was detected in his system in Ingham on October 20.
He was convicted, fined a total of $350 and disqualified from driving for three months.
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