A 23-year-old man has been saddled with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt following a drunken car crash at Brooklyn last year, a court was told.
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Bryce Hursey had been drinking with friends on Saturday, November 20, when he decided to go for a drive to get a haircut, the Burnie Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday.
Hursey was charged with driving while exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit and driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor and a drug, and pleaded guilty before Magistrate Leanne Topfer.
Someone could have very likely been injured or killed.
- Magistrate Leanne Topfer
Police prosecutor Cassandra Pickering told Ms Topfer that witnesses saw Hursey's car travelling at an excessive speed on Brooklyn Road, Brooklyn, before he crashed into a residential yard.
He and his passengers left the scene and the rolled car and returned to his home 300m away, where Tasmania Police found him about 20 minutes later.
He submitted to a breath test and returned a reading of 0.145, Ms Pickering said. He also returned a positive drug test.
Defence lawyer Aysha Williams told the court Hursey left the scene to provide first aid to a friend who received a minor injury in the crash.
"He is very remorseful and very grateful no one was seriously injured," she said.
Ms Williams also told the court the crash had been a costly exercise for Hursey, as the $55,000 car was declared a write off, but was not covered by insurance due to the nature of the crash.
She said the cost of removal of the vehicle from the private yard and the legal costs had added to his financial burden.
"This has been a very expensive lesson for him," she said.
Ms Topfer said she recognised that, and that he was grateful no one was injured.
"You're very lucky you're not here for a more serious offence," she said.
"Someone could have very likely been injured or killed. These are very serious charges."
However, she said he was clearly held in high regard by his employers, and took into account his early plea of guilty.
Hursey was disqualified from driving for 18 months, fined $1448 and ordered to pay costs of $90 and a $40 victims of crime levy.
Ms Topfer also noted he will have to have a breath testing device installed on his vehicle when he regains his licence, "which is also very expensive".