Paul Garry Palombo was described as “quite belligerent” by police when they attempted to interview him regarding an incident where he verbally abused a shop owner then stumbled away drunk and drove off.

However, in Orange Local Court on Thursday, the 57-year-old’s solicitor Bob Lulham said he had not seen a man more committed to recovery from alcohol abuse nor a man with more support in doing so.

“It is aggravated because there are two matters, but the documents I have tendered ... show the steps my client has taken in regards to addressing his problem,” he said. 

Police facts said Palombo tried to buy some take-away food from a shop around 10.35pm on Wednesday March 18, but he would not pay for the item, despite the shop owner watching him withdraw a significant amount of cash from a nearby ATM.

He swore violently at the shop owner and began to walk towards his car. The shop owner said “Mate you can’t drive the car drunk,” but he did anyway. 

The witness took down Palombo’s number plate and police used council CCTV footage to confirm his identity.

When officers arrived at his home in Sale Street 15 minutes later, he was “obviously affected by alcohol,” his speech was slurred and he was unnecessarily loud. 

Only two weeks later police pulled Palombo over and breath-tested him.

He recorded a blood-alcohol reading of 0.168, which was in the high-range category. 

The magistrate, Terry Lucas, said Palombo had been sentenced to jail in 2011 for his last offence, but had successfully appealed the sentence in the District Court.

He sentenced him to 200 hours community service, disqualified from driving for three years and fined him $300 for swearing at the shop owner.