Matthew Allan, Michael Hugh Pratt in Gympie court

A magistrate has taken a drink driver’s licence after he was caught behind the wheel of the same car his unlicensed, designated-driver younger brother had been pulled over in 30 minutes earlier.

Michael Hugh Pratt (left) and Matthew Allan Pratt faced Gympie Magistrates Court together after a designated driver run in the early hours of September 17, 2023, ended with two run ins with police. Michael Pratt pleaded guilty to driving without a licence, and driving an unregistered vehicle. Matthew Pratt pleaded guilty to drunk driving.

A magistrate has taken a drink driver’s licence after he was caught behind the wheel of the same car his unlicensed, designated-driver brother had been pulled over in 30 minutes earlier.

The Southside brothers, 35-year-old Matthew Allan Pratt and 31-year-old Michael Hugh Pratt, faced Gympie Magistrates Court Thursday morning after police picked each up in the early hours of Sunday, September 17.

The court was told Michael had been called in by Matthew to serve as designated driver on the night.

He used his niece’s Ford Fiesta for the run, not realising the car was unregistered and his own licence had been suspended by SPER.

The court heard Michael learned these details when police pulled him over at 2.25am.

About 30 minutes later police pulled over the same Ford Fiesta turning into the driveway of a Helen St address.

Police found Matthew, the passenger at their first meeting, now behind the wheel.

Noting he had bloodshot eyes and was slurring words, they conducted a breath test, which returned a result of .142.

Matthew pleaded guilty to driving while over the middle alcohol limit, while Michael pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended licence, and driving an unregistered vehicle.

Michael Hugh and Matthew Allan Pratt leave Gympie Magistrates Court together after losing their licences following a September 17 designated driver run which went wrong.

Matthew, a truck driver for Corbets, told the court he needed his licence for work and was “very stupid” to have driven drunk.

Magistrate Bevan Hughes told him there was “no possible way” he could be in control of a car with a blood-alcohol reading almost three times the legal limit.

He was concerned this latest bout of drink driving had happened only three months after he had been picked up for driving with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.072.

“You can drink, or you can drive; You can’t do both,” Mr Hughes said.

He said Michael had been “trying to do the right thing” by serving as the designated driver but it was still his responsibility to ensure he was obeying the laws.

Mr Hughes fined Matthew $650 and stripped him of his licence for four months.

Michael was fined $400 and lost his licence for one month.

Originally published as Matthew Allan, Michael Hugh Pratt in Gympie court