Judge may do time over drink-driving

A SENIOR jurist faces a possible jail term after he was found to be three times over the legal blood alcohol limit in a car accident.

ONE of NSW's most senior jurists, who once ruled that magistrates were too lenient when sentencing high-range drink-drivers, faces a possible jail term after he was found to be more than three times over the legal limit when involved in a car accident in Sydney last month.

The sobering prospect of a custodial sentence was not immediately apparent to retired NSW Supreme Court judge Roderick Howie, who is currently on holiday in Japan and yesterday sent his solicitor to Ryde Local Court to plead guilty to mid-range drink driving on his behalf.

However, Mr Howie, who has a commission until June 30 as an acting judge of the court, did send a note to the magistrate in which he said he fully expected to lose his licence and be fined as a result of driving while drunk.

The message from afar did not impress magistrate Daniel Reiss, who said Mr Howie demonstrated an "unusual misapprehension about sentencing options" and warned that a jail term was possible. Mr Reiss also expressed his displeasure about Mr Howie's failure to appear.

"The facts show a serious accident has occurred," the magistrate said. "Whoever the accused might be, I would expect the accused to be before the court."

A police fact sheet tendered to the court revealed that on May 18 Mr Howie claimed to have consumed one bottle of red wine at home between 7pm and 11pm during which time he also enjoyed a pre-packaged meal.

Just after 9.30am the next day -- more than 10 hours after his last drink -- Mr Howie got behind the wheel of his Subaru Forester. Moments into the journey, Mr Howie failed to give way at a busy intersection near his home on Beecroft Road, and crashed into the back of a truck's trailer. His car then mounted the footpath, before veering back across the four-lane road and colliding with an oncoming car, which in turn ricocheted into another vehicle. No one was seriously injured in the accident.

An initial roadside breath test of Mr Howie returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.168. A test taken at Eastwood police station later that morning returned a reading of 0.121 -- almost 2 1/2 times the legal limit.

In 2004, Mr Howie was on a panel of five judges that ruled magistrates were too lenient when sentencing motorists convicted of high-range drink-driving offences.

Mr Howie will be sentenced in September.