Mark Stephenson faces Yeppoon court after drunken car crash
It was a bizarre scene as a drunk driver stayed in his car after crashing it into a ditch and drank more alcohol with his dog for company.
Police & Courts
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A Central Queensland man who crashed his car down an embankment at night while drunk, stayed in the vehicle with his dog and kept drinking more alcohol.
Mark Thomas Stephenson was drunk when he drove his Mitsubishi Outlander down an embankment at Yeppoon about 7.30pm.
After crashing, Stephenson continued to sit in the car with his dog, and he kept drinking alcohol.
A member of the public reported the incident to police and when they arrived at the scene on Bungundarra Road, they saw the car had minor damage and paramedics were there assisting Stephenson.
The 69-year-old pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court to drink driving.
Police prosecutor Mirren Smith said after the crash on January 3, Stephenson was taken to hospital.
Ms Smith said when Stephenson was questioned by police, he said he was unable to recall what happened while he was driving, stating he was “driving home like he normally would have and just fell off the road.”
“He further stated he thinks he is getting too old,” Ms Smith said.
Stephenson told police that before driving, he had been drinking Wild Turkey bourbon at a friend’s house.
Ms Smith said Stephenson returned a blood alcohol reading of .206 but the prosecution accepted that he had drank more alcohol after the crash “so it wasn’t a true reading.”
Ms Smith said the prosecution and Stephenson’s solicitor Myles Heath had come to an agreement that the reading was between the middle alcohol limit and the high alcohol limit (so official reading .125).
Mr Heath said Stephenson, a pensioner, was a retired mechanic and he was battling cancer.
“He only drinks socially... he has very good traffic history for a man of his age,” Mr Heath said.
In sentencing on July 4, Magistrate Grace Kahlert noted Stephenson had a “very limited” traffic history and she fined him $500 and disqualified him from driving for three months.
Ms Kahlert also took into account that Stephenson had not had a licence since the January crash.
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Originally published as Mark Stephenson faces Yeppoon court after drunken car crash
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