Falcons coach busted drink driving over Christmas break

The Falcons Football Club has expressed its disappointment after one of their own was caught drunk behind the wheel.

Sunshine Coast coach Sam Mawhinney.

A Sunshine Coast Falcons coach has fallen foul of the law after he was busted for drink driving over the Christmas break.

Samuel Douglas Mawhinney, 40, was still under the influence when he was stopped by police in Woombye on the morning of December 12.

He submitted to a breath test and blew a blood alcohol concentration of 0.120, more than twice the legal limit.

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Mawhinney appeared in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday morning and pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle while over the middle but not over the high alcohol limit.

He was fined $700 and was disqualified from driving for 10 months.

Mawhinney faced court for drink driving after he was breath tested by police in December and blew more than twice the limit.

Falcons Football Club chairman Ashley Robinson said in a statement that the club was aware of Mawhinney's court appearance for the offence, which happened on his Christmas break.

"He has been very open and honest with us regarding the matter," he said.

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"We understand it was the next morning that he was found to be over the limit.

"Obviously we are very disappointed with his poor decision and uncharacteristic error in judgment, in thinking that he was in a position to drive his vehicle."

Mr Robinson said Mawhinney was "very remorseful for his actions" and took full responsibility.

"He has and will pay the price for his actions and we are certain will learn from it," he said.

"The Falcons take matters such as this very seriously and provide all of our players and staff with alcohol awareness programs each year.

"We will continue to provide all players and staff with these educational programs and will use this matter to further educate our players in regards to driving the next day after consuming alcohol."

Mawhinney has been with the Falcons since 2013 in various coaching roles, and under his reign the Hastings Deering Colts won the Falcon's their first under-20 premiership in 2019.

He was appointed coach of the Falcons' Intrust Super Cup team for 2020, however the cup was suspended and later cancelled as the COVID-19 pandemic heightened.

The premiership-winning coach took unpaid leave from the club and returned to a teaching position at Chancellor State College following the cup's cancellation, but is now back coaching the team for 2021.