Drink Driving Lawyers Parramatta Local Court – Middle Range DUI Offence August 2014 from Sydney Traffic Lawyers
This video reviews a recent Middle Range Drink Driving Offence at Parramatta Local Court for our client who was a repeat offender. We take a look at the case presentation, the outcome & additions orders we were able to get put in place. Our DUI Lawyers are highly skilled and have the expertise to represent anyone on any traffic matters especially DUI charges. To talk to a professional traffic lawyer call our office on 1300 941 900.
Parramatta Local Court DUI Matter (Mid Range PCA)
Hi there, and welcome to SydneyDrinkDriving.com.au. Just a quick update on the matter I had at Parramatta Local Court about a week and a half ago. My client was charged with a Middle Range PCA Offence, who’s blood alcohol rating was 0.116.
Now, the reason why this matter was more serious than just a normal Middle Range PCA Offence is the fact that only three years ago, he was also charged with a Low Range PCA Offence. So, he was considered a repeat offender and certainly, a second or subsequent major traffic offence within a period of the past 5 years is dealt with far more seriously by the Court.
Case Presentation
On this occasion, basically, I was able to express to the Magistrate that there were some extenuating reasons why my client found himself to be behind the wheel of the car after consuming the alcohol that he did. And basically, it was that he had gone to lunch that day with his wife and his daughter that had a BBQ at the friend’s place. His wife wasn’t drinking. She drove that day. They went home. That night, he and his wife ended up getting into quite a heated verbal argument. She took off with their daughter and he was left at home to basically stew over the emotional fight that they had had earlier in the evening.
He continued to drink whilst at home and then, made a very foolish decision and a decision which was very emotionally driven to get into his car late at night and go looking for something to eat for dinner.
Now, there were no aggravating features surrounding this incident. He was the sole occupant in the vehicle, pulled over for the purpose of a random breath test. He wasn’t speeding. He wasn’t driving erratically. There were no other charges involved. He was polite. He was cooperative with the police. And certainly, the risk to other people on the road was reduced given the time of night that there was hardly any traffic on the road late that night.
So, basically, these issues were taken into account by the Court and showing that, it was a more standard type of PCA Offence rather than something that involved the collision, or even risk of death or injury to other people.
I was able to press upon the Court that my client had a very real need for a driver’s license. He needs to operate heavy machinery and needs to have a driver’s license in order to perform his work. Obviously, he’s married. He has a child. He needs to provide for his family. He is the sole breadwinner for that family. Without the lessons, it’s going to be extremely hard for him to get by.
Now, being a repeat offender meant that he had to expect that he was going to spend some time off the road. He was certainly hoping to get a reduced period of disqualification. So he could get back on with earning a living and providing for his family.
I was able to persuade the Magistrate that there were a number of subjective features about my client, what he does for work, and his real need to be able to maintain a driver’s license for his work.
DUI Penalties at Parramatta Court
I was able to push these points across to the Magistrate and persuade the Magistrate out the Parramatta to reduce his period of disqualification down to the 12-month minimum period. He’d already been off the road for a couple of months when we went to the final court hearing. And this period of suspension was taken into consideration in relation to time already served with the 12 months disqualification that was handed down by the Magistrate. He was given an $800 fine. He was convicted. There was no Good Behaviour Bond and there was no community service. So, despite the fact he was a repeat offender, we were able to get just the minimum disqualification, a reduced fine, and we’re able to get his disqualification period backdated.
Order for Alcohol Interlock Device
The other important thing that we were able to do was get our Drink Driving Lawyer Parramatta to seek an order for an alcohol interlock device put in place.
Now, it’s unsure whether my client will exercise the option to get an alcohol interlock device put into a vehicle because he does operate heavy vehicles and machinery around the worksite and this may not be suitable to put an alcohol interlock device in.
However, if he wants to get back on the road driving his normal work vehicle, this is an option that he may be able to exercise. Once he has completed the initial six months disqualification period, he will then have to have the device he needs his car for two years. But in saying that, he would be able to be able to continue driving a normal vehicle as long as it had this alcohol interlock device in his car. He is extremely happy with this outcome. He was looking at at least 18 months disqualification or even higher and a fine of around $1,500 to $2,000. But we were able to dramatically reduce by $2,000 down for him so he will be able to get back only with earning a living and providing for his family a lot quicker.
Contrition & Remorse
Certainly, he displayed a true sense of remorse to the Court. We’re able to help him put together a statement, which he tendered to the Court just to show what he had learned and if taking part in the traffic offenders program and the real emotional types of presentations and lessons that he took away from that program. And this was certainly very well responded by the Magistrate, who actually turned around and said to my client, well, it looks like that your client has finally got the message.
And I think it was quite well-taken and understood that this will be the last time my client will appeal back before the Court on such a charge as this one.
Seeking A Professional DUI Lawyer
Guys, if you have been charged with any sort of alcohol related traffic offence or drink driving matter, please feel free to give us a call at our office on (02) 9283 8622. You can have a chat with me. I’m happy to have a free first telephone consultation with you. Just to explain your charges, the situation you’re in, and what can be expected when got to Court.
If you need to get us on board for professional legal representation, rest assured we are extremely experienced in these types of matters. We do lots of them every single way at various different courts in and around Sydney. So, we are very capable at handling these types of matters.
We also represent these types of matters on a fixed pay basis. So, there’s no extra or additional cost involved after we’ve provided you with that initial quote, alternatively, and jump onto our website if you haven’t seen it. It’s SydneyDrinkDriving.com.au. there’s plenty of information there surrounding laws, penalties, and various other issues about drink driving and alcohol related offences in New South Wales.
That might be your first starting point to familiarize yourself with the bit of information surrounding these types of criminal offences. But certainly, give us a call and I’m happy to have a chat with you about your situation. Thanks, guys!
Speak to our DUI Lawyers – Josh Boorman Ph: 1300 941 900
Our DUI Lawyers can be contacted at:
Sydney Drink Driving Lawyers | DUI Solicitors NSW
Email: jboorman@boormanlawyers.com.au
