The law is the law... unless you have a good story

[Jim Goose]

Well time and time again we see magistrates who give out light weight fine for drink driving... but this surely takes the cake.

If you can make the magistrate have a good cry about how you had a crappy week you can get away with anything.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/n...-1226530771379

Lynnette Turner blew 0.2 but kept her licence

Vanda Carson
The Daily Telegraph
December 05, 2012 11:00PM

A MAGISTRATE found a mother's tragic story of why she chose to drive while seriously drunk so compelling she allowed her to keep her driver's licence.

Waverley Local Court magistrate Jacqueline Milledge said her decision to allow Lynnette Turner to keep her licence was "agonising" because every day she saw in her court the damage caused by drink drivers.

The 43-year-old from Mascot blew a reading of 0.208 at a random breath testing site on Harris St in Rosebery on September 14. Usually high-range drink drivers lose their licences for several months and are slapped with heavy fines.

Ms Turner's lawyer said she chose to drive while drunk in an attempt to rescue her close friend who had an emergency about 11.30pm.

Ms Turner made the fateful decision to drive just three blocks and was caught.

The court heard Ms Turner, an executive assistant with accounting firm PWC, was a super-mum who always cared for others before herself - and she had had a horror week. The mother of two had learned her foster daughters' mother had been diagnosed with cancer and was trying to comfort her. She had also quit her job because she had been bullied at work.

"I'm going to do what I've never done in 16 years as a magistrate, to give you a chance to hold on to your licence," Ms Milledge said.

"I'm convinced that this was a one off in your life ... you made a doozy (of a mistake)"

Ms Milledge said she recognised that Ms Turner had been trying to help her close friends and family and had found herself in an "awful circumstance".

She said Ms Turner clearly had a "real and pressing need to be in the car that night".

Ms Turner was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.

High range drink driving is any reading over 0.15.

For a first offence, high-range drink drivers can be disqualified from driving for up to three years, but normally they are off the road for a minimum of a year. They can also be fined up to $3300 and in extreme cases can be sent to jail for up to 18 months.

The guidelines for magistrates on high-range drink driving were set by former Supreme Court judge Roderick Howie, who retired after he was caught drink-driving when he was an acting Court of Appeal judge last year.

Justice Howie blew 0.168, considered high range, after a serious collision last year but was convicted of mid-range drink driving after the level of alcohol in his blood fell to 0.121 about 30 minutes later.

So now the next person who fronts this magistrate can have a big cry saying.. "oh I had a really bad week!!!"