Drunk driver Suravanan Subramaniam fined after girlfriend goes home with other man

An offshore engineer and former sergeant in the Singapore armed forces who got behind the wheel “blind drunk” after his girlfriend decided to go home with another man has been fined. Find out how much.

Suravanan Subramaniam leaves the Darwin Local Court after pleading guilty to high-range drink-driving. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

An offshore engineer and former sergeant in the Singapore armed forces who got behind the wheel “blind drunk” after his girlfriend decided to go home with another man has escaped with a “very parsimonious fine”.

Suravanan Subramaniam pleaded guilty in the Darwin Local Court to high-range drink-driving after he blew 0.216 while driving a Mitsubishi Pajero on the Stuart Hwy on June 10.

The court heard the 35-year-old was pulled over by police after stopping the 4WD in the right turning lane at the intersection with Lambrick Ave at about 2.15am.

His barrister Caroline Heske told the court he had worked as an engineer “managing complex projects related to marine technology and offshore engineering” since leaving the military.

But Ms Heske said Subramaniam had been on a five-month break from work since January “after experiencing burnout earlier in the year”.

“During that break he met a woman, they developed a relationship, it was going very well, he even took her to his family in Singapore,” she said.

“But when they arrived in Darwin the relationship started to break down and on this night she indicated to him that she was going home with another man.

Suravanan Subramaniam recorded a blood-alcohol reading more than four times the legal limit. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“He became very distressed and made some poor decisions, that doesn’t excuse his conduct and he’s never suggested it excuses it but that is the circumstances around this lapse of judgement.”

In handing Subramaniam a “very parsimonious” $600 fine, judge Greg Macdonald said while there was “some explanation” for his offending, “it’s no excuse”.

“You were absolutely blind drunk driving a 4WD, it’s extremely dangerous, the Territory’s road toll is about four times what it is in other jurisdictions and certainly probably much more than what it is in Singapore,” he said.

“It’s very fortunate that nothing more than you being arrested by police and being taken to the watch house and now losing your licence occurred.”

But Mr Macdonald said he had “some confidence given the references that have been provided for you”.

“You’re clearly a very upstanding person ordinarily, you’ve got a lot of very positive qualities and you’re going to suffer very definitely in your vocation as a result of the 12-month disqualification that must be imposed today.”