Michael William Bradley caught driving road train with meth in his system

A catch up with an old friend turned into a meth smoking session for a Toowoomba truck driver before getting behind the wheel of a roadtrain.

A truck driver caught driving a road train on a Queensland highway with methylamphetamine in his system has escaped with a fine and the minimum mandatory one-month driving disqualification.

Police prosecutor Cameron Francis submitted to Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday that Michael William Bradley should be given more than the mandatory one-month driving disqualification because he was behind the wheel of a semi-trailer with meth in his system which made the offence significantly more serious.

The court heard Bradley’s road train had been pulled over on the Barkly Highway near Mt Isa about 11.44am, June 3.

Admitting to police to recent drug use, a roadside drug test proved positive and further analysis found the 50-year-old had meth in his system, Mr Francis told the court.

Bradley pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle with a relevant drug in his system.

His solicitor Kirsty Smith told the court her client lived locally and had been a truck driver for more than 30 years.

The night before he had been pulled over, Bradley had run into an old friend he hadn’t seen for more than 15 years and he used some drug with that friend, Ms Smith told the court.

Bradley had since been tested twice for substances and had returned clear results, she told the court.

The company which employed her client would place him in work in the shed while he was off the road but should the disqualification period be longer than four to six weeks, his job might be in jeopardy, Ms Smith submitted.

Magistrate Louise Shephard fined Bradley $450.

She also disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for the minimum mandatory period of one month.