A magistrate has voiced her frustration over the number of drink-drivers she has come before her, with one Coleambally man lucky he didn't kill himself or "wipe out an entire family".
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John Patrick Gorman, 61, copped the lecture, fronting court charged with high range drink driving.
About 4.15pm on July 2, Gorman was driving a grey Subaru Impreza on Jimmy Cull Road in Coleambally, when he lost control and hit the dirt channel back after falling asleep behind the wheel while taking a bend, driving across onto the wrong side of the road.
He came to a stop after hitting a power pole, which deployed all airbags.
Apparently unscathed, he attempted to drive home however ended up stopping on Rosewood Road due to the extensive damage on his car.
He was found by passers-by on the side of the road, who contacted the ambulance. He refused treatment, saying he wasn't injured.
The police were contacted after ambulance officers noted he smelled strongly of alcohol.
Police arrested Gorman and took him back to Darlington Point station where he returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.162. He said he had consumed 375ml Woodstock bourbon can which he topped up with an amount of vodka about 2.30pm.
Gorman's legal representative Pier's Blomfield argued for his client's character, saying he waited by the car for an hour before police turned up.
"A person of a lesser conviction would have taken the chance to decant," Mr Blomfield said.
Magistrate Boulos, who had heard numerous drink driving charges through the course of the day, detailed the numerous aggravating features of Gorman's choice to drink-drive.
"He fell asleep, went on to the wrong side of the road, collided with the bank, then the power pole... you are lucky you are still here standing."
"You could've wiped out a whole family," she said as she read the "serious" set of facts.
Gorman called out, saying he did not fall asleep behind the wheel as she read, and this was not met kindly by the magistrate.
"Let's not talk... I do not want to hear from you," she directed.
She sentenced Gorman to a 12 month jail term to be served in the community, with a nine month disqualification, the mandatory interlock period of 24 months, with 80 hours of community service.
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Mr Blomfield argued that without a license and living so far away from Griffith it would be difficult for Gorman to report to community corrections which was almost 70 kilometres away from his home.
Yet the magistrate said "they'll find something" in relation to a solution. Drink driving is a factor in about one in every seven crashes in NSW where someone loses their life, and Ms Boulos said she sees it "time and time again".
"There are too many drink driving cases before me - is the message not getting through?" Magistrate Boulos asked.
"Drink-driving will not be tolerated."
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