A 23-year-old Cowra man has been fined $1150 and disqualified from driving for six months followed by a 24-month interlock period at Cowra Local Court.
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Brock Xavier Peters, of Carro Park Road, was before the court charged with a high-range PCA and driving in the dark with no lights.
He entered pleas of guilty to the offences.
According to police facts, around 12.50am on August 3, 2021, police observed a Holden Rodeo travelling east on Eulo Street without its lights on.
Police observed the vehicle turn onto Fitzroy Avenue and travel very slowly.
The vehicle was stopped and the driver, Peters, spoken to.
As police were speaking to him they could smell a strong scent of alcohol.
Police then subjected him to a breath test which returned a positive result.
He was then arrested and taken to the Cowra Police Station for a secondary breath analysis, which returned a reading of 0.207grams of alcohol in 210 litres of breath.
In relation to his drinking Peters told police he had consumed four cans of Woodstock bourbon and had intended to drive to Batemans Bay that evening.
During his time with police Peters was orderly but his eyes were bloodshot and drooping.
He was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred.
Peters' solicitor, Jo Collings, told the court her client had completed the traffic offenders intervention program and had gained a deep insight into his offending.
"He's still very young Your Honour, he's 23, he lives with his grandmother and that's where he was heading when he was apprehended by police," she said.
"He doesn't in any way seek to excuse what he has done and if you look at his feedback document, Your Honour, you'll see, that with the assistance of Grammarly, he has articulated very well what you would like to hear from someone who's done that course."
In sentencing, Magistrate Moody said Peters had done everything he could to mitigate his plea but did not appear before the court with an unblemished record.
"He has been convicted in the past for hindering police in the execution of their duty and using offensive language, but other than that he has a very limited record," she said.
"I note however he was only on his Ps which is extremely concerning that he would commit one of the most serious driving offences while on his Ps.
"He has done the traffic offenders program and I also note the reflection he wrote about it, he clearly has enormous insight into his offending and the court very much appreciates when young people do that course and they get as much out of it as Mr Peters did.
"The manner of driving was slow, whilst anybody driving drunk places the community at great risk, it's perhaps not as aggravating as speeding."
