Matthew Jack Grant fell asleep at the wheel when his driver’s licence was disqualified

The trade qualified painter who runs his own business servicing Central Queensland was not able to be woken by members of the public and that’s when they alerted the police. Full details here.

Police were called to the Yeppoon location after being alerted by members of the public. Generic image.

A man who fell asleep at the wheel with his car running at Yeppoon was on a demerit-point licence disqualification at the time.

Matthew Jack Grant, 26, pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on February 17 to the offence.

The court heard that on November 11 last year, at 12.55pm, police were patrolling Normanby Street, Yeppoon, when members of the public alerted them to a Jeep Cherokee where the driver was asleep and unable to be woken.

“Police approached the vehicle, which was running, and made several attempts to wake that person who stated he had fallen asleep whilst parked,” Police Prosecutor Kevin Ongheen said.

Police checks of Grant’s licence revealed he had a demerit-point suspension imposed on October 6 last year for a period of six months.

When questioned by police, Grant said he had driven to that location from his home at Taroomball, about 30 minutes away, and he was driving to get lunch.

A solicitor said Grant, who was born in Mackay and grew up there, was a trade qualified painter who ran his own business.

“He works both in Yeppoon and Rockhampton and in the busy periods, in Mackay,” the solicitor said before adding a further mandatory licence disqualification would impact his client.

Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale noted that Grant had a “pretty shocking traffic history” before fining him $450 and disqualifying him from driving for six months.

Originally published as Matthew Jack Grant fell asleep at the wheel when his driver’s licence was disqualified