In this episode of the Boorman Lawyers Court reports, we take a look at a Drug Driving offence at Southport Magistrates Court where we achieved the successful reduction of Licence disqualification down to the minimum period of 1 month for our client, a $400 fine and No Criminal Conviction recorded.
DUI Video #TimeStamps
00:14 – Welcome to #BoormanLawyers Southport Court Update
00:40 – Discussing client poor traffic history
01:00 – Eligible for a work licence
01:45 – Well prepared Affidavit from Employer & the Applicant
02:15 – Fit and proper person to be granter a work licence
02:40 – Persuade Court that client would suffer financial hardship & lose his job if he couldn’t drive
03:20 – Completed the Traffic Offenders Program
03:50 – Result: 1 month minimum Licence Disqualification & $400 fine
04:20 – Contact our Southport Drug Driving Lawyers on 1300 941 900
04:45 – Also visit our website for more information BoormanLawyers.com.au/traffic-law/
In this episode of the Boorman Lawyers Court reports, we take a look at a Drug Driving offence at Southport Magistrates Court in Queensland.
Drug Driving Offence at Southport Magistrates Court
Boorman Lawyers appeared at Southport Magistrates Court on an offence of drug driving. It was the lesser offence of drug driving where our client was caught driving with that presence of cannabis in his saliva. So he wasn’t driving under the influence with drug at the time. However, he did have traces of cannabis still in his system from over a week after consuming a small amount of cannabis and he was pulled over a roadside drug test. He provided a sample of saliva and it was found that he did have positive traces of cannabis in his system.
Transferred from Warwick Magistrates Court
His matter was actually initially listed in the rural Queensland area of Warwick Magistrates Court out west of the Gold Coast. However, because our client lives on the Gold Coast we were able to have his matter transferred to Southport Magistrates Court on the proviso that the matter was to proceed on a plea of Guilty.
Our client instructed us to plead Guilty, have the matter transferred closer to where he lives on the Gold Coast and to seek the maximum amount of leniency for his traffic offence.
Drug Driving Disqualification Period
It was the first major offence for my client. So he was looking at period of Licence Disqualification between 1 to 9 months off the road. Unfortunately, he had previously lost his license due to demerit points over the past five years. So he wasn’t in a position where he could apply for a work license which would have been the case if he had not lost his licence within the previous 5 years. So we were really trying to get the maximum reduction possible for his period of disqualification.
Queensland Traffic Offenders Program
Our client went along and completed the SAVE Traffic Offenders Program, which he completed successfully and was able to produce to the Court the course workbook and completion certificate from that course. We were able to tender that as evidence that he had gone along and re-educated himself about driver’s safety and that certainly played in his favour on sentence.
DUI Character References
We were also able to get some good character references from his employer, his ex-wife and we got our client to put to the Court a letter of apology outlining the significant lessons he had learned out of the traffic offenders program and certainly the concerns that he has about going forward without a driver’s license and how it will affect his position at work. He also apologized to the Court and the community for his offending behaviour.
Drug Driving Case Presentation
So we appeared before the Court and put together some good strong oral submissions on behalf of our client. We focussed on trying mitigate the actual offence by discussing how objectively low the offending was and that there was no aggravating features involved in the incident. It was just a simple drug drive offence where my client didn’t realized that he was actually doing anything wrong at the time.
We explained all that to the Court and we also touched upon the effects that losing his license will have on him going forward. The Magistrate was very receptive to what we had to say and also took into account cumber the steps that he has taken since the offence to make sure that it is the first and last offence that occurs in relation to my client.
Drug Driving Offence Court Result
We were happy to be able to achieve the best outcome possible for our client on a plea of Guilty for his Drug Driving Offence. The Magistrate decided that she was willing to completely reduce the disqualification period down to the minimum of 1 month. The Magistrate gave my client a $400 fine. But the other big win for our client was that we were able to persuade the Magistrate not to record a criminal conviction.
Qld Drug Driving No Criminal Conviction Recorded
Our client is originally from overseas. He still has a lot of family over in South Africa and does a lot of traveling between Australia and South Africa and also to see friends in the UK.
The general stigma surrounding a drug offence can have an effect on his ability to travel if he had a drug driving conviction on his record. So we were able to persuade the Magistrate not to record a criminal conviction which our client was extremely happy about.
Coming away from that, our client was extremely happy. We got probably the best outcome possible for a plea of guilty of this traffic offence. Certainly, our client has learnt a lot from this entire experience. He was very happy and will move on from this experience being a better and safer driver.
So this is just another one of many different types of traffic offences and criminal offences that we appear on in Queensland at Southport Magistrates Court where we pleaded on sentence.
Contact our Southport Drug Driving Lawyers
If you have found yourself on the wrong side of the law and with a similar sort of offence or traffic offence, please feel free to give me a call on 1300 941 900. I’m happy to have a FREE 1st Telephone Consult with you to give you an idea of the situation you might be in and certainly we can discuss how we can go about preparing a case and representing you in the best possible way when your Matter goes before the Courts.
Also, feel free go along to our website BoormanLawyers.com.au and check out our website. There’s a whole heap of information, pages, blog posts, videos, laws and offences there, which might give you a better idea of the particular situation you are in. Then you can decide whether you think you may need a lawyer to represent you and to try and get the best outcome possible in your Matter.
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Speak to our Southport Drug Driving Lawyers Ph: 1300 941 900
Our DUI Lawyers can be contacted at:
Boorman Lawyers NSW & QLD Solicitors