A 51-year-old Koorawatha man has been fined $800 disqualified from driving for six months, given a mandatory interlock order for 24 months and a 12 month community corrections order at Cowra Local Court on Wednesday, February 6.
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Robert Neville Norris of Prince Street was before the court charged with a high range PCA and driving while his licence application was refused.
According to police facts around 12.15am on Saturday, December 1, 2018, Norris was stopped by police in Redfern Street for a stationary breath test.
During the breath test Norris was unable to produce his licence telling police it "was disqualified due to lack of points".
"When I went to apply for my new one they told me I couldn't have one," Norris said.
A secondary breath analysis at the Cowra Police station returned a reading of 0.158 grams of alcohol in 210 litres of breath.
Norris told police he had consumed five middies of beer between 6pm and 11.30pm.
Norris' solicitor Geoff Casey told the court the point's accrued on his client's licence had been due to foolishly paying traffic fines that had been generated by his partner and he was now paying the consequences.
Norris told the court he had learned a greater respect for the law by taking part in the traffic offenders program.
"A lot of people can get hurt and killed on the road," Norris said.
"What I did was stupid, I was going through hard times and should have thought about my actions more."
In sentencing Norris, Magistrate O'Brien, said it was important Norris knew that until his driving privileges had been renewed he could not operate a motor vehicle.
"Driving is a privilege that everyone works hard to earn, but it is a privilege, and is revoked when you fail to comply with the rules," he said.
"Throughout life when we feel down and are thrown a curve ball, it is not an excuse to break the law.
"Drink driving has these penalties because lives have been lost."
