Drunk motorbike crash rider pleads guilty from wheelchair

WHEN his mobile phone tracker appeared stationary, his family called police who found the 34-year-old on the road beside his crashed motorcycle.

A blood sample taken after the crash found he was four times over the legal limit.

A 34-YEAR-OLD man who sustained serious injuries in a motorcycle crash on a Toowoomba street had a breath/alcohol level more than four times the legal limit.

Peter Graham Bretzke had been drinking on April 6 and had been warned by his family that if he drove they would contact police.

After he climbed onto his motorcycle and rode off about 1.30am, his family contacted police to say his mobile phone tracker was stationary on Tor St, Wilsonton Heights.

Police arrived to find Bretzke on the ground beside his crashed motorbike, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

It appeared his bike had hit the curb at North and Tor Sts and became airborne, crashing onto the roundabout and then sliding onto the road, police prosecutor Natalie Bugden told the court.

Having sustained a fractured eye socket, dislocated leg and broken ankle, Bretzke was taken to Toowoomba Hospital where a sample of blood was taken.

That sample showed that at the time he had a blood/alcohol reading of 0.219, Sergeant Bugden said.

Spoken to by police on May 1, Bretzke said he no recollection of the crash or drinking to excess that day, she said.
From his wheelchair, Bretzke pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of liquor.

His solicitor Nick Smith, of Bernays Lawyers, told the court his client had no memory of events from 4pm that day to when he woke in hospital but he accepted the police facts.

During the rehabilitation process his client had suffered a stroke, Mr Smith said.

His client was receiving counselling and had been without his licence since the event, he said.

Magistrate Kay Ryan noted he had no previous such offending and ordered the conviction not be recorded.

Acknowledging he had already suffered significant physical penalty, Ms Ryan fined Bretzke $1200 and disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for nine months.

Originally published as Drunk motorbike crash rider pleads guilty from wheelchair