A Cowra man has been told he is on his “last chance” after being involved in two car accidents under the influence of alcohol, in the space of six months. When 70 year-old Basil Pettit appeared in the Local Court on November 26 charged with driving while disqualified, was jailed for nine months.. Pettit, of Hanna Street, will serve the sentence as an Intensive Corrections Order, in the community. “This is your last chance,” magistrate Rana Daher warned Pettit. “You really could have hurt someone,” Ms Daher told Pettit. ‘If there was someone on the footpath it could have been catastrophic,” she said. According to police documents Pettit’s second accident occurred on March 16 this year involving his vehicle mounting a footpath and colliding with a street sign. Police said Pettit did not stop and returned to his home address where he was found, still sitting in his vehicle, by police a short time later. The accident was witnessed by a number of people. Ms Daher told the court, upon reading the facts, police observed Pettit was unsteady on his feet, there was a strong smell of intoxicating liquor and a bottle of alcohol was on the car’s front passenger seat. Police said when Pettit exited his vehicle he was extremely unsteady on his feet and had a strong stench of alcohol emanating from him. “He didn’t even stop,” Ms Daher said of the accident. Pettit was also disqualified, during resentencing on the first accident, from driving for six months with a 24 month interlock order. The court imposed an eight month disqualification in regard to his second accident.
