Wayne Adrian John Westcott pleads guilty to high range drink driving after farewelling beloved boss

A big afternoon saying goodbye to his boss has resulted in a Toowoomba father-of-two charged with a serious offence that could have ended catastrophically.

A lunch with work mates has resulted in a Toowoomba father-of-two charged after police notice his unusual behaviour.

Wayne Adrian John Westcott, 31, pleaded guilty at the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on December 5 to high-range drink driving, after he was busted behind the wheel by police.

Police prosecutor Bettina Trenear told the court Westcott was pulled over by police on Hursley Road at about 11.15pm on November 4, after his driving manner alerted authorities to a problem.

Westcott told the police he had been drinking since midday with colleagues at Club Glenvale as part of a farewell lunch for his boss, when he decided to get behind the wheel.

The father-of-two returned a reading of 0.184, and claimed his work mates had been shouting drinks, and he believed he was fine to drive.

Westcott’s solicitor Alysha Jacobsen told the court her client believed he had only had six or seven Jack Daniels in the 11 hours, however later discovered the drinks had double shots.

Ms Jacobsen said her client, who works as a 2IC as a NDT Technician and is undertaking an engineering course with TAFE, was incredibly remorseful for his actions.

The charge was out of character for Westcott, who does not have a criminal history, and has not received infringement notices in almost a decade, the court heard.

Magistrate Louise Shephard said while the offence was “well over the high alcohol limit”, she could see he had taken the charge very seriously, and was a hardworking family man.

Westcott was disqualified from driving for six months and fined $1500 to be referred to SPER. No conviction was recorded.