Drink-driving while disqualified plus poor traffic record leads to jail

The Toowoomba man had only been out of jail 47 days for traffic offences when he was caught drink-driving while disqualified.

The man pleaded guilty to his seventh drink-driving offence coupled with disqualified driving.

A HISTORY of disqualified and drink-driving has come against a Toowoomba man jailed for his latest offending.

Benjamin Tait Ennis, 30, had been approached by a police patrol after he parked his car near the Wilsonton KFC about 1.40am, November 26, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

He told police he had been drinking earlier and that he knew he shouldn’t have been driving, police prosecutor Bettina Trenear told the court.

Ennis blew a breath/alcohol reading of 0.143 and checks found he had been disqualified from driving by the court until August 2022, she said.

Ennis pleaded guilty to drink-driving while disqualified by a court.

Ms Trenear said Ennis had previous drink-driving offences including 0.209 and 0.194 readings in recent years.

He had served two months of a six-month jail term for similar offending and had only been out of jail on parole for 47 days when this occurred.

His solicitor Charles Lumsden conceded this was his client’s seventh drink-driving offence but his client had now taken steps to address his issues and was attending Lives Lived Well and hadn’t drunk alcohol for two months.

His client had never held a licence, he said.

Magistrate Kay Ryan sentenced Ennis to 12 months in jail but ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole immediately, noting it was taking the parole board about four months to process parole applications.

Ennis was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for a total three years.