Dane Cumming: East Coast real estate agent guilty of huge DUI
An East Coast real estate agent has faced court after he blew more than triple the legal blood-alcohol limit following a big night at his local.
Police & Courts
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An East Coast real estate agent has lost his licence for 12 months and been fined $1000 after he blew more than triple the legal blood-alcohol limit following a big night at his local.
Scamander man Dane Andrew Cumming, 39, formerly an agent with Surf Coast Realty – Launceston Magistrates Court heard on Thursday he had accepted a new role at St Helens – pleaded guilty to driving while exceeding the legal blood-alcohol limit.
The offence occurred about 1am on September 17 outside the Scamander Beach Hotel. Police received information a driver had scraped another vehicle while leaving the carpark and had not stopped.
However, when police arrived, Cumming identified himself as the driver and said his car was parked on Pringle St. He was “unsteady on his feet and slurring his words,” the court heard.
The collision had only occurred 10 minutes prior. Defence lawyer Mark Doyle told the court his client wasn’t aware he had hit the car, but pulled over and returned to the pub after a friend called him to alert him of the fact.
Cumming was transported to St Helens Police Station, where he returned a blood-alcohol content of 0.152 per cent, more than three times the legal limit.
Mr Doyle told the court his client, who was not a “regular drinker”, had consumed more than was wise and made the foolish decision to try and drive himself the short distance home.
He said the disqualification of Cumming’s licence was a serious matter for his client, in light of the dearth of public transport options on the East Coast.
“He will be reliant on friends and taxi services. There will be significant costs for him to meet his commitments to his new employer. He is enormously aware of the serious nature of his offending,” Mr Doyle said.
Magistrate Evan Hughes sentenced Cumming to the minimum disqualification, 12 months backdated to the offence date, in light of the fact it was Cumming’s first drink driving offence.
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