The 19-year-old went out and had a few drinks and sensibly, he caught a taxi home rather than driving himself.

However at 6.25am the morning after on March 1 he ended up driving his car into his neighbour’s vehicle and narrowly missed the neighbour.

In Orange Local Court on Thursday Backhouse’s solicitor argued the apprentice boilermaker should be given the minimum disqualification period of 12 months despite his high range drink-driving reading of 0.161. 

“The matter is somewhat aggravated by the accident ... he did all the things we expect young people to do when they go out,” Mr Manwaring said. 

He told the court Backhouse had come home and had a fight with his father and so he got in the car and took off. 

Police facts said Backhouse’s neighbour in Redgum Avenue was loading a motorbike onto his vehicle and it was parked “nose out”  and was “slightly” protruding onto the road. 

Backhouse drove along the road at around 50km/h, saw the neighbour, slammed on the brakes but the car locked “due to constant inclement weather”.

The LandCruiser slid out of control and crashed sideways into the neighbour’s car. 

Police said Backhouse was unwilling to help them with their inquiries but he told them he had drank an unknown quantity of beer between 8pm and 2.30am. 

“His demeanour changed from hostile to emotional,” police said. 

Backhouse was on his provisional licence at the time and the blood-alcohol limit for P platers was zero. 

Magistrate Terry Lucas told Backhouse he was lucky to be standing in court without a serious injury. 

“You shouldn’t have been driving at all.”

He fined him $1500 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months backdated to March 1.