A Perth man says he drank half a bottle of rum after a crash in which he wiped out eight metres of fence and a plum tree, the Launceston Magistrates Court heard.
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Shane Edward Bruce, 37, pleaded not guilty to one count of drink driving and a count of being a driver involved in a crash and failing to stop.
The court heard that Mr Bruce recorded a breath analysis of 0.182 when tested by police at about 6.30pm on November 28 last year.
Defence counsel Fran McCracken said it was a drink pattern defence based on Mr Bruce's alcohol consumption after the crash.
Perth resident Sandra Waters said she came out of her house after hearing a bang about 4.30pm to see a black utility driving away.
Her fence was knocked down and part of a neighbour's fence and a tree.
She said Mr Bruce returned after about 10 to 15 minutes.
Ms Waters, who had experience as a hotel worker, asked him if he had been drinking and he said he had only had a couple.
She said he told her he was on the way to the pub.
"Did you have any conversation about what he had done?" police prosecutor Trudi Lusted asked.
"He said he was upset and had gone home and drunk a bottle of Scotch," Ms Waters said.
Ms McCracken suggested he had talked about drinking rum.
"I'm positive that he said scotch," she said.
Ms McCracken suggested he had said he was on the way to the IGA supermarket.
"No, he said he was going to the pub," she said.
Mr Bruce's next door neighbour Andrew Wadley said he received a telephone call from Mr Bruce who asked him if he could put his black utility in his garage.
Mr Bruce told him he couldn't get his window up and wanted to keep the car out of the rain.
"It was in there a long time, four [to] five months," Mr Wadley said.
"Did you see the damage to the car?" Ms Lusted asked.
"The front was caved in, I didn't want nothing to do with it and said just put it in there," Mr Wadley said.
Mr Bruce gave evidence that he was a truck driver who would lose his licence if guilty of drink driving.
He said he had two beers and a can of strawberry and lime cider before heading to the IGA to get food for tea.
He said he was driving at 30-40km/h when he lost control of the Ford XR6 Turbo on the wet road.
"The ute got sideways and I panicked and overcorrected and put my foot on the accelerator and it went across the road into the fence," he said.
Ms Lusted asked if it could be possible to cause 'all that damage' if he was driving at 30-40km/h?
"Yes," he said.
"Do you expect the court to believe that?" she asked.
"Yes," he said.
Ms Lusted said: "I put it to you that you gave it to the vehicle and lost control".
"No, that's not correct," he said.
"Why did you ask a person you hardly knew about putting your car in his garage?" she said.
"It was the only option I had," he said.
"I suggest you were trying to hide the car," she said.
"That's not true," he said.
Forensic Science Services Tasmania scientist Carl Gardner gave evidence that a person of Mr Bruce's weight would have recorded a reading of between 0.189 and 0.245 if he drank two beers a cider and 600ml of rum.
Ms Lusted asked Mr Gardner if the analysis was done based on the information supplied by the defence about Mr Bruce's alcohol consumption.
"Yes," he said.