Jail, $2k slapdown: Central Qld‘s high-range drink, drug drivers named
Central Queensland has copped a string of high-range drink or drug drivers - with readings as high as 0.232. Now, the names and faces of some of the region’s worst offenders can be exposed. SEE THE LIST
Rockhampton
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Drink and drug drivers continue to be a danger to the Central Queensland community.
Between 2016 and 2020, more than 250 people died on Queensland roads while over the legal alcohol limit, according to the Queensland Government.
According to The Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland, drug driving is a contributing factor in up to 41 per cent of Australia’s road fatalities.
New laws announced by the state government this year will mean anyone convicted of mid range drink driving (0.10 to 0.149) will need to install an interlock when they get their licence back, otherwise face a further five year disqualification.
All drink drivers will need to complete an education program.
These new laws took effect on September 10.
Officer in charge of the Rockhampton Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Ewan Findlater said drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol exhibit impaired judgment, memory, co-ordination and reaction time.
“Choosing to drive when affected by alcohol or drugs is a decision that has a direct consequence on your life and those around you,” Senior Sergeant Findlater said.
“Police in Central Queensland are urging drivers that if they plan to drink, plan to get home safely.”
Michael James William Campbell - .232
Campbell rolled his vehicle on Emu Park Road on July 23.
Police prosecutor senior constable Sarah Rowe said he was seen to be serving on the wrong side of the road when his vehicle hit an embankment.
He was seen sitting on the ground and appeared ‘grossly intoxicated’ and empty UDL cans were found in the vehicle.
Magistrate Cameron Press said Campbell was fortunate he didn’t kill someone or himself.
“I know it was a mistake and something I must live with,” Campbell said.
He pleaded guilty and was disqualified from driving for 11 months and fined $1000.
Ben Raymond Noel Marsh - 0.173
Police pulled Marsh over on Appleton Drive at 2.15am on September 5.
He told police he consumed 10 cups of vodka before driving to a caravan park where he was staying.
He pleaded guilty and was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for nine months.
Alan Joseph Royal - 0.164
Police were called to a single vehicle crash at Keppel Sands at 4am on July 31.
Royal pleaded guilty to drink driving and was fined $900 and disqualified from driving for eight months.
He had a previous drink driving conviction this year.
Jay Anthony Austin - .189
Police found Austin parking on the right side of Lord Street in Gladstone where he got out of the driver’s side and walked to the passenger side.
Police prosecutor sergeant Merrilyn Hoskins said police smelt a strong smell of liquor on him and he was slurring his words.
He told acting magistrate Ron Muirhead his actions were plain stupidity and he was sorry.
Austin pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of liquor and disqualified driving and was fined $2000 and disqualified for a further two and a half years.
Keegan Jon McDermott - .177
McDermott crashed his car on McBean Street in Yeppoon on July 18.
The fish filleter pleaded guilty and was disqualified for eight months and fined $1200.
Reilly Norman Marsden - .182
Marsden was pulled up on Appleton Drive at 11.34pm on August 11.
He told police he consumed about 20 UDL cans before driving.
The court heard he had been convicted of high range drink driving in 2013 where he blew .162.
Marsden told the court he was an assistant manager of a hotel and what he did was ‘very stupid’.
He pleaded guilty and was fined $1000 and disqualified for 11 months.
Vijayraj Laxman Menon - .153
He was pulled over for a random breath test on Glenlyon Street and returned the high reading at the police station.
When questioned by police, Menon said he was driving a mate to a service station for cigarettes before dropping him off at his car and heading home.
The Gladstone Magistrates Court heard that Menon said he drank two whiskeys while at Mie Place.
He pleaded guilty and was fined $2000 and disqualified from driving for two and a half years.
Sophie Bridget Katie Lawson - .175
She was pulled over on The Boulevard at Theodore at 5.20pm on July 17.
Lawson told the Biloela Magistrates Court she had ‘no excuse for doing it’.
She pleaded guilty and was fined $1050 and disqualified from driving for nine months.
Jenny Ann Sauer - .156
She was also pulled over on The Boulevard but this time at 11pm on July 31.
The court heard she worked at a school and was embarrassed about the incident.
Sauer was fined $1050 and disqualified from driving for nine months after pleading guilty.
Lauren Ellen Williams - .230
She returned a reading almost five times the legal limit after she crashed a LandCruiser into a light pole on Tanby Road.
The vehicle sustained damage to the bullbar and broken panels on the passenger side.
Police noticed Williams speech was extremely slurred and they found an open stubbie in the cup holder.
She pleaded guilty was fined $1800 and disqualified from driving for 15 months.
Steven Wayne Dixson - .225, .201, .174
This man has racked up a slew of drink driving convictions over the past five years and has been busted for driving offences every year since 2000.
“The sheer volume and nature of these offences have been an escalation in his offending behaviour and has placed the community at immense risk,” police prosecutor Brandy Butler said.
“His offending has shown a complete lack of concern for the wider community and the potential catastrophic impacts his offending could have on innocent people.”
He pleaded guilty in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court on September 17 to three counts of drink driving, three of disqualified driving, one of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, one of failing to stop at a red light, one each of driving an unregistered vehicle which was also uninsured and had incorrect number plates attacked, and one of breaching bail.
He was caught in October 2020 driving a stolen car with a BAC of .201.
Dixson was also busted on Moores Creek Road on January 23, 2021 with a BAC of .174.
He has also previously been convicted of driving at .225.
Dixson was jailed for 12 months and disqualified from driving for a whopping nine years and eight months.
He was also fined $300 and re-sentenced to one month imprisonment for breaching his probation.
Murray Andrew Lerway - .164
Lerway left the Railway Hotel at Yeppoon at 8.30pm on August 13 and was pulled over by police.
He told officers he consumed 20 schooners of beer.
He pleaded guilty was sentenced to 12 months probation and disqualified for 10 months.
Thomas Graeme Robertson - .204
Police became suspicious of Robertson’s driving while on Rogers Street at Moura at 11.30pm, June 25.
He turned onto Davey Street on the wrong side of the road and hit a roundabout after police started following him.
Robertson finally swerved into a gutter and blew his high reading.
He pleaded guilty and was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Adam Terry Stevenson - .175
Police attended an incident on J Hickey Avenue at Clinton at 3.20am on April 25 where a witness said he left at 2.40am.
Stevenson was caught up on Kent Street, exhibiting drunken behaviour where he then blew his high reading.
The handyman pleaded guilty and was fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for $1000.
DRUG DRIVERS
Sean William Stimson - valium, methylamphetamine
He was driving erratically down the Dawson Highway before being pulled over by police, but he blew an alcohol reading of zero.
A range of drugs were found in his system after he did a blood test.
Stimson pleaded guilty and was put on probation and disqualified for 12 months.
Samuel Armstrong Walsh - MDMA
Armstrong Walsh crashed his car in the Dean Street IGA carpark in North Rockhampton at 2.20pm on March 21.
Police found him slumped over the steering wheel of the Holden sedan.
He was disqualified from driving for six months and fined $1000 after pleading guilty.
Melissa Sue Blackwood - MDMA
She told police she had consumed MDMA before she had a blood test confirming it.
She had crashed on Gladstone-Benaraby Road at Glen Eden at 3.50am on December 28, 2020.
Blackwood pleaded guilty and was disqualified for one month and fined $500.
Jarod Cobly Kershaw - methylamphetamine
Police were told by a witness of Kershaw being unresponsive in a vehicle at 10.15am, October 9, 2020.
He was woken up, blinking and looking around with a bag of marijuana in his lap.
Kershaw was also busted with methamphetamines in his system at 6.14pm, October 5.
His solicitor Rebecca Harris said he chose to sleep in the car and slept in it during times of homelessness.
Kershaw pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, possessing a dangerous drug, obstruct police, drug driving while holding a provisional licence and two unlicensed driving charges.
He was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years, ordered onto parole for a previous suspended sentence, fined $400, given 40 hours community service within 12 months, two years probation and disqualified from driving for four years and eight months.
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Originally published as Jail, $2k slapdown: Central Qld‘s high-range drink, drug drivers named
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