Father pleads guilty in Mackay court to drug-driving with unrestrained child in back seat

A magistrate has ripped into a father who was driving around a Central Queensland mining town with drugs in his system and a child not wearing a seatbelt.

A father has been blasted for drug-driving with his young son unrestrained in the back seat at a Central Queensland mining town.

The man, aged in his 30s, was stopped on Mills Ave at Moranbah about 6.30pm on November 5, 2021 for a roadside breath test, which returned a positive reading for marijuana in his system at the time.

When police stopped the vehicle officers saw two children in the back seat, the younger of who was not wearing a seatbelt.

Mackay Magistrates Court heard the man, who cannot be named because it would identify the boy, told police he had been unaware the child was unrestrained.

Prosecutor Harry Coburn said the man had a prior for drug-driving which meant he had to be disqualified for at least three months.

The man, who represented himself, pleaded guilty to driving with a relevant drug present in his blood or saliva and failing to ensure a child aged over six months but under four years was restrained.

Acting Magistrate William Cooper said the latter charge was the more serious of the two and blasted the man for having drugs in his system with children in the back seat.

“You have the responsibility of looking after that child and you’re driving around with cannabis in your system and the child unrestrained,” Mr Cooper said.

The man was convicted and fined $1050 in total for both offences and disqualified from driving for three months.

Originally published as Father pleads guilty in Mackay court to drug-driving with unrestrained child in back seat