A farming contractor who drives between 80,000 and 100,000 kilometres a year as part of his business has been disqualified from driving in Parkes Local Court.
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Patrick Robert Dwyer (24) of Dwyers Road Alectown was before Magistrate Fiona Toose on Monday, January 20, charged with drive with middle range PCA (0.114) at Tichborne, on November 29, 2019.
According to police facts tendered in court, Dwyer came under notice of police after he was checked travelling north along the Newell Highway at Tichborne at 121 kilometres per hour in a 110 kilometre zone.
Police stopped Dwyer in his twin cab Toyota Landcruiser at 11.24pm, he had two male passengers in the vehicle at the time.
A roadside breath test returned a positive result. He was arrested and taken to Parkes Police Station for a breath analysis which returned the reading of 0.114.
Dwyer told police he had had three schooners of beer with dinner at the Post Office Hotel in Forbes before driving.
Officers reported a strong smell of intoxicating liquor on his breath and that he seemed slightly affected by alcohol.
Dwyer was issued with a warning in relation to his speed and his licence was immediately suspended.
Parkes solicitor Stephanie Hughes told the court her client is an outstanding young man.
"He is self employed and comes very highly commended from those within his community and network," she said.
"In light of the amount of driving he does on country roads he takes his licence extremely seriously.
"He has a desperate need for his licence as there are circumstances where he will be unable to fulfill his employment obligations without it."
Magistrate Toose told Dwyer that the fact that his speeding wasn't dealt with separately by way of a charge it becomes an aggravating feature of his offence.
"I accept that things have been tough in business with the drought, I get all that," she said.
"But you have no right to put yourself and others in your vehicle at risk
"There was potential for catastrophic damage and destruction, not only to your passengers and yourself, but to other road users as well.
"It's not on."
Magistrate Toose noted that Dwyer does not have a particularly good driving record.
"I accept this is your first drink driving, but speed has clearly been an issue," she said.
Magistrate Toose fined him $800, disqualified him from driving for three months, and imposed an interlock order for 12 months.
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