A MAN who was left paralysed from the waist down after he crashed his motorcycle while drunk, unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured and without a helmet, has been treated as a cautionary tale for others who do not take enough care on the road.
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Boeu Reid, 43 of Summer Street, represented himself in Orange Local Court on Monday from a wheelchair, pleading guilty to mid-range PCA and the other four traffic offences.
Police said Reid was riding his Suzuki RF900R at high speed eastbound along Summer Street on November 2 about 6.30pm.
Approaching a give way sign at the Park Street intersection, he lost control.
Reid hit the ground hard and hit the gutter on the eastern side of the roadway - residents from nearby houses heard the crash and rushed to help, calling Triple-0.
Police, fire crews and paramedics rushed to help Reid and he was taken to hospital suffering head and spinal injuries before being airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital.
MAP: Where the incident occurred...
He spent some time recovering at Royal Rehab at Ryde, but can no longer move his lower body.
Blood tests revealed an alcohol reading of 0.120.
Police visited him at the facility on March 18 where he admitted to being the rider and consuming a cask of wine before he set out, but he could not recall the incident due to his head injury.
Magistrate Brian Van Zuylen took the outcome of the incident into account and noted aside from another incident in 2007, he had a good record.
"You've suffered a terrible injury as a result of this mistake," he said.
"The court's not going to give you a lecture, you've suffered as bad a consequence of drink-driving as could happen.
"One could point to your tragic example as an example for the people caught drink-driving who come here and expect to keep their licence."
Mr Van Zuylen convicted Reid on the mid-range charge without further penalty, although he was also disqualified from driving for six months and will have to fit an interlock device for two years afterwards if he seeks another driver's licence.
The remaining charges were dismissed without conviction.
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