Sam Codlin: Helensvale carpenter admits high-range DUI leaving his business’ fate in the balance
A Gold Coast chippie’s carpentry business is on life support after his second sentence for drink-driving in the space of two years, with cops swooping on him due to his erratic driving.
A Gold Coast chippie’s carpentry business is on life support after his second sentence for drink-driving in the space of two years.
Helensvale man Sam Codlin, 33, appeared in Southport Magistrates Court on November 26, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of liquor.
The offence occurred on Helensvale Rd at Hope Island at about 10.55pm on November 12, police prosecutor Blake Dickson told the court.
Mr Dickson said police were performing mobile patrols when they pulled Codlin over due to his “manner of driving”.
Cops could smell “liquor emanating from [the defendant’s] breath,” Mr Dickson said, and Codlin was required to submit to a random breath test, which returned a positive reading of 0.201 per cent blood-alcohol – more than four times the legal limit.
He confessed to drinking alcohol about four minutes prior to getting behind the wheel, the court heard.
Mr Dickson said police would allege a relevant prior on Codlin’s traffic record - a mid-2023 entry for driving over the general alcohol limit of 0.05 per cent - would have the effect of increasing the mandatory minimum disqualification Magistrate Pam Dowse could impose.
Defence lawyer Demi Quadrio, of local firm Gatenby Criminal Lawyers, told the court her client emigrated to Australia from his native UK in 2014.
However, after the breakdown of a relationship in 2021, he spiralled into alcoholism – his drinking was described as being “unmanageable” – which coincided with the decline of his company, Codlin Carpentry Pty Ltd.
Ms Quadrio said her client was finally ready to face up to his demons, attending an alcohol support group and engaging with his GP, and he had not touched a drop since being charged with the current offences.
Because her client was in the process of rebuilding his business, and was unable to afford to hire a full-time carpenter to assist, any licence disqualification would have a dire effect on his economic prospects, Ms Quadrio said.
Magistrate Dowse fined Codlin $1200 and disqualified him from driving for 10 months, with conviction recorded.
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Originally published as Sam Codlin: Helensvale carpenter admits high-range DUI leaving his business’ fate in the balance
