Cole Rangatira Dudley: Gold Coast tradie pays steep price for high-range drink-driving

A Gold Coast tradie has paid a steep price after concerned customers dobbed him in to police when he struck bushes and fell asleep in the fast-food carpark. Here’s how he was punished.

Pimpama tiler Cole Rangatira Dudley, 34. Picture: Alex Treacy

A Gold Coast tradie has been busted high-range drink-driving after concerned customers at a local Hungry Jack’s reported him for striking bushes in the carpark with his work van before falling asleep at the wheel.

Pimpama man Cole Rangatira Dudley, 34, appeared in Southport Magistrates Court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of liquor.

The offence occurred at Hungry Jack’s Ormeau just after 8am on Sunday, March 23 this year.

Police received calls for service from worried customers, who reported an unresponsive man in the carpark, the court heard.

Investigations revealed Dudley had pulled into the carpark, attempted to park but misjudged and collected a stand of bushes, then reversed and park crookedly, before passing out slumped over the steering wheel.

Officers observed Dudley to be unsteady on his feet, slurring his speech, and with bloodshot eyes, and he subsequently returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.173 per cent.

Dudley reported he had drunk five to six cans of double whisky the night prior.

Defence lawyer Joshua Boorman told the court his client had worked all day the Saturday prior, before being invited to a friend’s house at Stoney Creek Cct, a short distance from the Hungry Jack’s.

Mr Boorman said Dudley drunk “quite an excessive amount” of alcohol from about 9pm-4am before passing out on the couch for a few hours.

He was on his way home when he felt a hankering for breakfast.

Mr Boorman said his client, a father of one, has recently gone through a separation from his wife, and was currently sleeping on a mattress in his mother’s home office.

“The fallout from him being off the road [high-range drink drivers are handed an instant provisional disqualification when they are charged] has forced him to take long hard look at himself now that he’s a single father,” the lawyer said.

This has already carried a harsh financial penalty – Dudley went from earning about $3000/week as a self-employed tiler to $600-$800 due to his need to employ a person to drive him around to job sites.

Magistrate Steve Wettenhall fined Dudley $1050 and disqualified his licence for six months.

Dudley will also be subject to the mandatory Alcohol Ignition Interlock Program for 12 months from the conclusion of his disqualification.

Originally published as Cole Rangatira Dudley: Gold Coast tradie pays steep price for high-range drink-driving