"If you had an accident and killed someone ... you would be in jail."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Those were the words of Magistrate Brett Thomas in Parkes Local Court as he handed down a disqualification and interlock order for a high range drink driver.
Dion Muel Somogat pleaded guilty to the offence in the court on July 21 and was told he would have to serve a suspension from driving and then apply for an interlock licence.
Somogat, 35 years old of Rex Aubrey Place, Parkes, had two passengers in the vehicle and a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit when he was stopped for random breath testing, police documents tendered to the court said.
Police stopped him in Close Street about 8.50pm on April 15 this year, and he told them he'd had three beers.
Testing revealed a high range prescribed concentration of alcohol of 0.175.
Somogat was fined $900, disqualified from driving for six months and placed on a 12 month community corrections order when he appeared in person in Parkes Local Court on July 21.
"I accept that you work hard, that you provide for your family ..." Magistrate Thomas said.
"But I can't ignore the fact that you recorded 0.175.
"If you had an accident and killed someone you wouldn't be working ... you would be in jail."
READ MORE: