15 people in Rockhampton court over drug, drink driving charges
A motorist with a roadside BAC level almost high enough to kill someone is one of 15 exposed bad drivers in court busted for being under the influential of alcohol or drugs while driving.
Police & Courts
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When some people get behind the wheel they have no respect for the law and the past two months have been no exception in Rockhampton.
Meet 15 lawless drivers, one with a roadside blood alcohol content (BAC) reading so high it was enough to kill someone, while a learner driver was busted drug driving twice in just two days.
Here are the outrageous stories of drivers who took the law into their own hands and found themselves in court for May and June for drink or drug driving.
TRUDI ELIZABETH COLLINS
Collins had a BAC reading of .387 when she drove a work Toyota HiLux “all over the road” along the Scenic Highway at Cooee Bay on the Capricorn Coast on February 16.
At 2.10pm she sideswiped a parked vehicle, police prosecutor Mirren Smith told Rockhampton Magistrates Court on May 29.
Ms Smith said Collins didn’t stop when she sideswiped the vehicle and instead continued driving along the highway until she turned right onto Mulambin Road at Statue Bay, then onto Constellation Dr and Bells Court.
She said police located the vehicle at 2.30pm outside a residence in Bells Crt and observed damage to the left side of the vehicle and a cracked side mirror, consistent with damaged to the sideswiped vehicle.
Ms Smith said Collins was inside the residence and was identified as the driver.
She said police noticed Collins was “unsteady on her feet, couldn’t walk straight and could smell alcohol on her breath”.
“The defendant was struggling to speak with police and it was difficult to make sense of what she was saying,” Ms Smith said.
Collins gave a BAC specimen and returned the .387 reading.
According to the Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service, the lethal dose of alcohol is about .4.
At the police station, Collins refused five times to give further specimens.
Checks revealed her licence was suspended by the State Penalty Enforcement Registry in November 15, 2023.
Defence lawyer Allan Grant said his client had “difficulties with alcohol for a period of time” from a relationship.
He said Collins was drinking because she was upset she did not currently have contact with her children.
“She has done quite a bit in the past to address her drinking,” Mr Grant said.
“There are times where she has stopped drinking alcohol for extended periods.”
He said she had worked with a GP since September 2021 to try to address her behaviour.
Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale accepted Collins was remorseful.
“It’s an extraordinary amount for a smallish woman of your age and build,” she said.
Collins pleaded guilty to one count of failing to stop at the scene of a crash, one of failing to provide a specimen and one of SPER licence suspended driving.
She was not charged with drink driving.
Collins was ordered to pay $2200 in fines and disqualified from driving for seven months.
TRENT KEITH JOHNSTON, 37
Johnston had a BAC reading of .139 when he left the Giddy Goat nightclub, hopped in the driver’s seat of a car and drove off in front of police, who followed him in their vehicle as he crashed into a garden bed on East St, just before the Fitzroy St intersection.
Police prosecutor Claudia Neill-Ballantine told Rockhampton Magistrates court on June 4 that Johnston’s crash on April 14 about 2.40am caused damage to two garden beds.
She said he hit one, then went further along the road and hit another garden bed.
Defence lawyer Samantha Legrady said Johnston, a plasterer, would need to get an interlock installed when he gets his licence back.
Johnston pleaded guilty to one count of drink driving, was fined $700 and disqualified from driving for six months and two weeks.
TERRENCE JAMES WEATHERALL, 35
Weatherall had methamphetamines in his system when he was intercepted driving along Hawthorne Street, Roma, on February 20, 2024 about 6.40pm.
The traffic controller had an eight-page criminal record and six-page traffic record which includes six prior drug driving offences.
He pleaded guilty on May 29 to one count of drug driving.
Weatherall was placed on a 12-month probation order and disqualified from driving for four months.
Magistrate Cameron Press warned Weatherall he would get a prison term if he was convicted of drug driving again in the future.
ANDREA JAYNE EVANS
Evans had meth and marijuana in her system when she was intercepted driving on Prospect St, Allenstown, at 6.30pm on May 28.
She told police she had smoked marijuana three days prior.
Evans pleaded guilty to one count of drug driving and was fined $350 and disqualified from driving for one month.
EMMANUEL MERERIA, 23
Mereria had marijuana in his system when he was intercepted driving on Yaamba Rd, Kawana, on March 29 at 11.50pm, and he held a provisional licence.
He told police he had consumed marijuana earlier that night and he was driving to the service station and then back home.
Mereria, who works for Queensland Health, pleaded guilty on May 29 to one count of drug driving and was fined $350 and disqualified from driving for three months.
RICKY ISON-BASSETT, 25
Ison-Bassett had meth and marijuana in his system when he was intercepted disqualified driving on Alma Street, Rockhampton, on March 31.
His licence had been disqualified in court on January 20, 2024 for two years.
Ison-Bassett told police a friend had rolled a smoke for him and he was “just driving to a mate’s house”.
Police searched his Norman Gardens residence on April 10 and found a used drug utensil.
Defence lawyer Samantha Legrady said Ison-Bassett had a business building sheds and had two daughters aged one and two years old.
She said he had sold his vehicle so there was no temptation to drive while disqualified.
Ison-Bassett pleaded guilty to one count each of drug driving, disqualified driving and possess a used drug pipe.
He was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond with a $400 reconnaissance, fined $1800 and disqualified from driving for a further two years and three months.
JACK DAVID WAKELING, 20
Wakeling had a BAC of .151 when his vehicle came off the road on Gavial-Gracemere Rd at Bouldercombe on May 11 about 4am.
He pleaded guilty in Rockhampton Magistrates Court to one count of drink driving on May 15, was fined $1050 and disqualified from driving for six months.
He will need to install an interlock device in his vehicle once he gets his licence back.
CRAIG ANTHONY ROLL, 52
Roll had methamphetamines and marijuana in his system when he was intercepted driving a Mitsubishi Lancer on Bolsover St at 7.40pm on March 30, 2024.
Defence lawyer Samantha Legrady said the commercial fisherman had a prescription for medicinal marijuana and wasn’t aware he couldn’t drive while using it.
Roll pleaded guilty to one count of driving while his licence was suspended by the State Penalty Enforcement Registry and one of drug driving.
He was ordered to pay $1250 in fines and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
A traffic conviction was recorded.
BENJAMIN ANGUS WINEFIELD
Winefield had methamphetamines in his system when he was intercepted driving a white Ford Falcon on Stewart Street, Gracemere, at 2.40pm on March 17.
Police prosecutor Corey O’Connor said Winefield’s criminal and traffic records indicated he had an issue with drugs.
Winefield pleaded guilty on May 15 to one count of drug driving and was fined $350 and disqualified from driving for one month.
NATASHA LEE HANSON, 30
Hanson had meth and marijuana in her system when she was intercepted driving on East St in Mount Morgan on March 14 about 8.40pm.
The mother-of-two pleaded guilty on May 15 to one count of drug driving, was fined $350 and disqualified from driving for three months.
SHONA LESLIE MAREE BEEZLEY
Beezley only had her learners licence when she was involved in a crash on Richardson Road in Norman Gardens on Christmas Day at 10.30am with a BAC of .124 and marijuana in her system.
Police prosecutor Corey O’Connor said when police arrived, they found the car had come to a rest in the front yard of a residence, with tyre marks behind the vehicle in the grass and one of the tyres punctured.
He said Beezley told police she had driven from High Street before the crash.
Beezley did not have a qualified supervisor in the vehicle while she was driving.
Defence lawyer Samantha Legrady said Beezley, who recently started working at a daycare centre, was using medicinal marijuana and did not realise mixing it with alcohol was not a good idea.
Beezley pleaded guilty on May 15 to one count of drug driving and one of drink driving and she was fined a total of $1000 and disqualified from driving for six months.
No traffic convictions were recorded and she was warned she could not use medicinal marijuana and drive.
TEMPTANY TEMPTENINA SEXCESS, 25
Sexcess was busted twice in two days driving with drugs in her system in March.
Police prosecutor Corey O’Connor told Rockhampton Magistrates Court on May 15 that Sexcess, who only held a learners permit, was first busted after a two-vehicle crash Shepherd Street, Koongal, at 10.39am on March 17.
She had meth in her system on this occasion and did not have a qualified supervisor with her.
Two days later, she was intercepted driving on the Capricorn Highway at Gracemere, unsupervised again and again with meth in her system.
Defence lawyer Samantha Legrady said Sexcess was on a disability pension for scoliosis and was unable to read or write properly.
She said Sexcess had engaged with Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Service.
Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale said it was very concerning Sexcess was drug driving only days apart.
Sexcess pleaded guilty to two counts of drug driving, one each of driving unsupervised and driving without due care and attention.
She was fined $1300 total and disqualified from driving for six months.
Convictions were recorded.
RYAN HOWARD ROGERS, 45
Rogers was busted driving with meth and marijuana in his system after being signalled to pull into a stationary RBT site on Gladstone Road, Allenstown, at 4.53pm on March 28.
Ms Legrady said Rogers had been engaged with Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Services for the past 10 years as he had been a heroin addict but did not use that substance now.
She said he was on a disability pension for paranoid delusions.
Rogers, who had no like offending on his history, pleaded guilty to one count of drug driving, was fined $350 and disqualified from driving for four months.
A traffic conviction was recorded.
BARRY JOHN JONES
Jones had a BAC reading of .106 and his driver’s licence was State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) suspended when he was intercepted driving along Glenmore Rd, Park Avenue, about 6pm on April 16.
Police prosecutor Mirren Smith said Jones told police he had consumed four or five cans of Jack Daniel’s that afternoon while “helping a mate work on his vehicle” and was heading home.
Ms Smith said Jones’s driver’s licence was SPER suspended on April 13 and that he told police he wasn’t aware of the suspension.
Jones pleaded guilty to the single drink driving and unlicensed driving charges in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on June 3.
He was fined $950 and disqualified from driving for six months with traffic convictions recorded.
ZEKIEL TRAI SHAW, 25
Shaw had marijuana in his system when he was intercepted driving along Yaamba Rd, Parkhurst, on March 30.
Defence lawyer Samantha Fernandez said her client had consumed the drug the previous afternoon and had waited 24 hours before driving.
Shaw pleaded guilty to the single drug driving charge in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on June 3.
He was fined $350 and disqualified from driving for three months with a traffic conviction recorded.
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Originally published as 15 people in Rockhampton court over drug, drink driving charges
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