Kodi Shane Freckleton ignored cops and blew three times limit

The driver was three times the limit, but it was the city’s surveillance that caught him getting behind the wheel.

The driver blew .187 after police warned him that he was being surveilled.

Despite being warned by police that he was under surveillance by CitySafe camera operators, a drunk man walked to his car parked in Toowoomba’s main street, got in and ultimately blew almost four times the legal limit when pulled over.

Police on patrol had spoken with Kodi Shane Freckleton on another matter in the Bell Street Mall on the evening of November 12, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

The 30-year-old was given a “move on” direction and told by police that he was under surveillance so he should leave the area in accordance with the directive.

However, CitySafe camera operators alerted the police officers to Freckleton and a passenger getting into a car park on Ruthven St and then driving off, police prosecutor Rohan Brewster-Webb told the court.

His car was soon pulled over by police and Freckleton blew a positive reading for alcohol and was taken to Toowoomba police station where he returned a breath/alcohol reading of 0.186, Mr Brewster-Webb said.

As a result his car’s number plates were confiscated for seven days, he said.

The self-represented Freckleton pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of liquor.

Asked if he had anything to say about the matter, Freckleton simply replied “No” but told the court he was working.

“It’s a high reading and the penalty will reflect that,” Magistrate Howard Osborne told Freckleton who was fined $700 and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for eight months.