Paulus Ruing faces Biloela court for drunken car crash, public pee

A Central Queensland mining engineer could lose his job after a shocking series of events unfolded that got him into double trouble with the law, a court has heard.

Paulus Ruing faced Biloela Magistrates Court for high-range drink driving and urinating in public.

A Central Queensland mining engineer has paid a hefty price for crashing his car while almost four times the legal blood alcohol limit.

Paulus Ruing, 52, pleaded guilty in Biloela Magistrates Court on June 7 to drink driving and urinating in public.

Police prosecutor Jennifer Leach said that about 9.30pm on March 3, police were called to a two-vehicle crash in Biloela’s Malakoff Street.

Ms Leach said when officers arrived at the scene, they saw Ruing’s Ford Ranger “wedged into” a Mitsubishi Triton.

“(Ruing) stated he had been drinking Hahn Super Drys since 5pm while driving home to Biloela from Rockhampton,” Ms Leach said.

“(Ruing) stated he purchased liquor at Mount Morgan and started consuming it at Dululu while driving.”

The prosecutor said Ruing was seen to be unsteady on his feet, slurring his words, and he returned a positive roadside breath test.

Ms Leach said Ruing requested to speak with his partner while police were talking to other people at the crash scene.

Ms Leach said Ruing then moved to the back of his vehicle and urinated in the middle of the road “in public view.”

The prosecutor said when police approached Ruing to speak with him, he told them: “Don’t look, I’m almost done.”

Police asked Ruing if he had urinated and he replied: “I’m drunk.”

Ruing returned a blood alcohol reading of .196.

The court heard Ruing had a two-page traffic record with no prior offending of this sort.

Solicitor Richard Parks said Ruing was a mining engineer at Blackwater, and he lived with his wife and child at Biloela.

“He’s definitely going to have great difficulty with his work commitments because he lives in Biloela,” Mr Parks said.

“He realises he’s going to lose his licence for a substantial amount of time.”

Mr Parks said Ruing knew what he had done was “very foolish” and he had already been without his driver’s licence for three months since the incident.

“He earns substantial income, which he may well suffer some losses if he can’t continue his work there.

“If he can’t continue his work, he will have to go back to (Papua) New Guinea.”

Mr Parks said the damage caused in the crash was minor and the collision happened while Ruing was trying to park his car.

Before handing down penalty, Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale told Ruing the consequences of his high-range drink driving “could have been a whole lot worse”.

Ms Beckinsale fined Ruing $1400 and disqualified him from driving for nine months.

Originally published as Paulus Ruing faces Biloela court for drunken car crash, public pee