A George Town man hit a brick wall when driving with a "wickedly high" blood alcohol reading, equivalent to five times the legal limit.
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Timothy Charles Earley, 53, pleaded guilty in Launceston Magistrates Court on Thursday to a count of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor on August 25, 2022, to driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle and to possessing cannabis.
The court heard that Earley was living at a George Town hotel when he started drinking with colleagues after work.
Police prosecutor Ben Warren said that about 1.50am on August 26, Earley was driving on Main Road and attempted to turn into Agnes Street, but failed to maintain control and crashed into a brick wall and a garden fence.
Police arrived as he was attempting to reverse away from the wall. He was unable to stand up when he got out of the car and fell to the ground before police could catch him. When police asked how much he had to drink he said: "a heap". He had a bag of cannabis in his pocket. Analysis of his blood sample returned a reading of 0.253.
Defence counsel Grant Tucker said Earley was well-regarded by his employer at a woodchip mill at Bell Bay, but that he would lose his job if he was sent to jail.
He said that Earley and a friend had driven from the hotel to buy cannabis and his friend passed out at the destination.
"Mr Earley made a bad error of judgement and made the decision to drive back," he said.
"He accepts he made a stupid decision and that it is a wickedly high reading," he said.
Magistrate Simon Brown said Earley had an appalling record which included several stints in prison for driving offences, including six counts of driving while disqualified since 1993.
Drink driving included readings of 0.126 in 1997, 0.05 in 2001 and 0.119 in 2009.
He said jail sentences in the past seemed not to have stopped him. Mr Brown sentenced Earley to four months' jail with half suspended and disqualified him from driving for two-and-a-half years.
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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.
