Blackwater court: Jarrad Anthony Thompson and Michael Peter John De Groot guilty of drink driving

Two men appeared in Blackwater Magistrates Court recently for drink driving offences. Here’s what happened.

Blackwater Court house.

Two men appeared in Blackwater Magistrates Court on June, 21 for drink driving offences.

Jarrad Anthony Thompson, 37, pleaded guilty to being in charge of a vehicle over the mid-alcohol level but not the high level.

Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Rachel Todd, told the court that on September 18, 2011 about 1.55am police at Blackwater who were conducting random breath tests found Thompson in a parked car that was running.

Police asked Mr Thompson to do a RBT and asked him how much alcohol he had consumed.

Thompson said he didn’t know.

Police took him to the station for the breath analysis and he returned a reading of .146.

Thompson told the court he would like to apologise for what happened and that he was “young and stupid back then”.

Thompson said he had been in Blackwater for work and returned to South Australia and forgot about the incident.

He said he had returned to Blackwater to have the matter finalised.

Magistrate Rosemary Gilbert fined Thompson $600 and disqualified him from driving for three month disqualification. A conviction was recorded.

Michael Peter John De Groot also had a drink-driving matter dealt with in Blackwater on June 21.

Magistrate Gilbert said De Groot was in Lismore but had asked for his matter to be dealt with in his absence.

De Groot, 58, pleaded guilty to driving a boat over the mid-alcohol level but not a high level. He had a BAC of .130

Sergeant Todd said De Groot was in town for the Saratoga fishing competition which took place from October 2-3, 2021 when the offence was committed.

Ms Gilbert convicted and fined De Groot $500 and disqualified him from driving a boat for three months.

Originally published as Blackwater court: Jarrad Anthony Thompson and Michael Peter John De Groot guilty of drink driving