Daniel Francis Roberts pleads guilty to being in charge of car while under the influence

Sitting the driver’s seat with the keys in the ignition while drinking wine has cost a Toowoomba man his driver’s licence. His actions also led to a trespass charge.

Just sitting in his car drinking wine while charging his phone nearby was enough for a Cottswold Hills man to cop a fine and have his driver’s licence disqualified for six months.

Daniel Francis Roberts had a disagreement with his partner on March 11 and had driven to a Helidon park where he parked his car beside a pump station, his solicitor Jag MacDonald, of MacDonald Law, told Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

A police patrol spotted the vehicle and approached to find Roberts sitting in the driver’s seat with a glass of wine and a cask beside him on the front seat, police prosecutor Rohan Brewster-Webb told the court.

Noticing the car keys in the ignition, police conducted a roadside breath test which returned a breath/alcohol reading of 0.154, Mr Brewster-Webb said.

When police were about to take the 46-year-old to the police station for a breath analysis test, he asked if he could retrieve his mobile phone and tablet which were recharging at power points inside the pump station.

Police later confirmed with the pump station manager that Roberts had no permission to be in the building and so police charged him with trespassing, the court heard.

Roberts pleaded guilty to being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of liquor and trespassing.

Mr MacDonald said his client had been without his driver’s licence since that day and the disqualification would impact greatly on his work.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark ordered the conviction not be recorded and fined Roberts $750, disqualified him from driving for six months with no further penalty for the trespassing charge.