A 36-year-old Canowindra man who asked police to complete a breath analysis for him has been ordered to undergo rehabilitation and treatment for alcohol use.
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Murray John Francis Scott O’Malveney, who was before Cowra court charged with driving with a mid-range PCA, was also fined $750 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Around 6.10pm on July 29 police were traveling west between Mandurama and Canowindra when they observed O’Malveney’s vehicle in front of them cross a double unbroken line.
As they continued to follow the vehicle they observed a large truck travelling in the opposite direction move to avoid a collision with O’Malveney’s vehicle.
Could you just breathe into this for me? I can’t afford to lose my licence.
Having stopped O’Malveney, he admitted to drinking five minutes before driving.
After a 10-minute period O’Malveney’s roadside test returned a positive reading, and he was then taken to Canowindra police station for a secondary test.
While waiting to take the secondary test O’Malveney asked police, “could you just breathe into this for me? I can’t afford to lose my licence”.
In relation to his drinking O’Malveney told police he had consumed four schooners of home-brewed beer.
O’Malveney’s breath analysis returned a reading of 0.119 grams of alcohol in 210 litres of breath.
O’Malveney’s solicitor told the court that her client didn't realise how much he had been affected by the alcohol and that his comment to police was a joke.
However the police prosecutor said that no one drinks four beers and expects not to blow over the legal limit.
“He would have had to have drunk those beers within half an hour to not be affected by them,” the prosecutor said.
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