No Conviction for Mid-Range Drink Driving

Our client is a 37-year-old male who resides in the United States of America and was on vacation visiting his friends in Australia. 

He was stopped by police and subjected to a random breath test. The blood alcohol reading was 0.08, and was subsequently charged with driving with mid-range PCA. After the offence, our client returned to the USA. 

Prior to engaging us he contacted the court seeking leave to appear by audio/visual link. This was refused by the court and he was advised he would be convicted if he did not attend. 

Our client then came to us anxious and confused, not knowing what to do. 

We first obtained an affidavit from our client clearing outlining the reasons for his inability to appear and why he could not have a criminal conviction against his name. These reasons included being the sole income earner for his family, potentially losing his job, and his 5-year-old daughter being diagnosed with Noonan syndrome, which required intensive care. 

We then obtained character references from his friends and family. These set out our client’s background, financial hardship and that the offending was out of character. Further, we assisted him in preparing an apology letter to the court and completing a traffic offenders program. 

We tendered these documents to the court and made oral submissions. As a result, our client was successfully excused from attending court in person and could appear via audio/visual link.

Ultimately, despite the magistrate noting the prior issues with our client’s lack of appearance, His Honour was persuaded by our submissions and sentenced our client to a Conditional Release Order without conviction for a period of 10 months. 

Our client was overjoyed with the result.