No conviction for drive under the influence of drug (second offence)

Astor Legal recently appeared at Hornsby Local Court on behalf of our client who was employed as a truck driver.

Three years ago he had been disqualified from driving for 6 months after he was convicted of an offence of ‘Drive Under the Influence‘. At the time he had been represented by another law firm.

Unfortunately, over the Christmas period he had consumed some cannabis with friends. Shortly afterwards he had got behind the wheel and drove. Police stopped him after observing a defect on his truck.

A drug test was conducted on him which returned a positive result for THC (cannabis). He was subsequently charged with Drive with Illicit Drug Present (second offence).

Given his employment as a truck driver, he was distraught at the prospect of losing his licence. We immediately began preparing the case.

We obtained character references from his employer setting out his need for a licence and that he would not be able work if he lost his licence. We also obtained a letter from his mother confirming that he was the sole breadwinner for the family. Our client also completed the Traffic Offender Program and the SMART Recovery Program.

We appeared at Hornsby Local Court with our client. Immediately prior to our client’s case being heard, another person was convicted and disqualified for the same offence.

Despite this, we were able to persuade the Magistrate to distinguish our case and our client received a conditional release order without conviction. As such, he retains his licence and can continue driving.