A competitive drag racer who snapped a power pole in half when he crashed while exceeding the 0.05 blood alcohol limit was saddled with a $13,000 damages bill, the Launceston Magistrates court heard.
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Paul Bradley Knowles, 52, pleaded guilty to exceeding 0.05 on July 17, 2022.
Police prosecutor Ben Warren said that at 2.24am in Hobart Rd, Kings Meadows, a gold Holden crashed into a power pole, snapping it off and leaving wires hanging over the road.
When police arrived, Knowles was in the passenger seat and he was taken to the Launceston General Hospital, where an analysis of a blood sample recorded a reading of 0.104.
Mr Warren said the rain was falling at the time of the crash, but traffic was light.
Defence counsel Matthew Williams said Knowles had been drinking at the Commercial Hotel from 10pm until 2am, consuming six mixed spirit drinks.
"At the time, he thought he was fine to drive, but it was raining heavily and he lost control and slid into the power pole," Mr Williams said.
"He has suffered significant consequences already, having suffered a fractured sternum and fractured nose, which meant he was off work for seven weeks."
Mr Williams said Knowles had to repay the owner of the power pole.
He said Knowles was also a competitive drag racer who would not be able to compete during the disqualification period.
"He realises things could have been more serious and regrets his poor decision to drive," he said.
He said the offence was out of character and he had no prior offences apart from a speeding fine in 2006.
Magistrate Simon Brown said the episode had pretty serious consequences for Knowles and disqualified him from driving for six months, and fined him $800.
"I accept this was out of character," he said.
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
