Lawyer Ryan Witnish pleads guilty to being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of liquor

A prominent Sunshine Coast lawyer has been caught sleeping behind the wheel before returning an astronomical reading.

Ryan Francis Witnish faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Picture: Patrick Woods

A senior solicitor has been caught high range while in charge of his car after police found him asleep at the wheel.

Ryan Joseph Witnish, a prominent lawyer on the Sunshine Coast, told Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Tuesday how he had already notified the Queensland Legal Service board for his boozy indiscretion on May 17.

The court heard police were called to Dianella Dr at Mountain Creek about 10.50pm where they found the 51-year-old passed out in the driver’s seat in his vehicle which was stopped in the middle of the road.

Police prosecutor Michael Quirk said officers tried to wake up the lawyer and found the keys were in the vehicle’s ignition and turned the key off.

Witnish was breath tested and later returned a reading of .172.

Witnish outside court. Picture: Patrick Woods.

He was given a notice to appear for being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of liquor, to which he pleaded guilty to in court on Tuesday.

The 51-year-old represented himself and said there was no excuse for his conduct, particularly as an officer of the court.

He told magistrate Raelene Ellis he was on prescribed medication at the time and believed this may have caused an issue with him metabolising alcohol.

The Mountain Creek man told the court it was his first alcohol related driving offence in his history, how he had stopped drinking since the incident, organised counselling for himself and was enrolled in the Traffic Offender Intervention Program.

Ms Ellis said it was an “extremely high level of intoxication” but acknowledged the steps he took.

Witnish was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for six months, with a traffic conviction recorded.

Originally published as Lawyer Ryan Witnish pleads guilty to being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of liquor