Fawaz Haji Barakat Barakat blows almost three times legal limit en route to CBD kebab shop

A 25-year-old kebab shop owner told police he had a couple of drinks at a friend’s home before driving to the store, before blowing almost three times the legal limit.

A Toowoomba kebab shop owner ended up in a bit of a falafel when he was caught drink-driving in the early hours of the morning en route to his store.

Police patrolling the CBD about 12.40am on June 25, saw Fawaz Haji Barakat Barakat turning into Margaret St and pulled him over due to the manner of his driving, suspecting he may be under the influence, Toowoomba Magistrates Court was told.

The 25-year-old told police he had been at a friend’s home in North Toowoomba where he had two scotch and Red Bull drinks before driving to his kebab shop in the CBD, police prosecutor Rohan Brewster-Webb told the court.

Fawaz Haji Barakat Barakat leaving Toowoomba Courthouse on August 8, 2023.

When a roadside breath test proved positive to alcohol, Barakat was taken to the police station where he recorded a breath/alcohol reading of 0.144, he said.

Through an Arabic interpreter, Barakat pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while over the middle alcohol limit but not over the high alcohol limit.

Through the interpreter, the self-represented Barakat told the court he had been driving to his kebab shop after a worker there had an issue.

It was the first time he had been drink-driving, he said.

Magistrate Louise Shephard noted Barakat had “an excellent traffic record” with no previous like offending and that he’d been without his driver’s licence since the incident of June 25.

Ms Shephard ordered the conviction not be recorded and fined Barakat $750 and disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for four months.