Driving ban for 4 years

A FORMER decorated police officer who caused a serious Breakwater crash days after being stripped of his licence has been banned from driving for four years.

Former Victoria Police sergeant Ashley McCooke, 59, had drunk a bottle of wine on December 30 when he got behind the wheel of his car.

The Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard the former cop was pulled over by police officers and ordered to undergo a preliminary breath test.

McCooke, pictured, tested positive to alcohol and later blew 0.164 per cent — more than three times the legal limit. McCooke’s licence was immediately suspended.

Three days later, and without a licence, McCooke was travelling on Fellmongers Rd in Breakwater when he failed to give way at an intersection.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Geoff Lamb said McCooke’s car crashed head-on with another vehicle, causing significant damage.

Responding police soon realised McCooke’s licence had just been suspended and ordered him breath tested.

The court heard McCooke tested positive to alcohol but refused to accompany police to the station for further tests.

“He told the informant that he wouldn’t go to the police station,” Sen-Constable Lamb said.

“He said ‘I’m not going’, and the vehicle was impounded.”

McCooke, who retired from police work in 2008, yesterday pleaded guilty to the offences including drink-driving, driving while suspended and refusing a breath test.

His lawyer, Niamh Harrington, said McCooke had used alcohol to dull post traumatic stress disorder that developed following years of relentless bullying while in the force.

Ms Harrington said McCooke had fallen victim to a “culture of drinking” she claimed was rampant in the police force in the ’70s and ’80s.

She said McCooke had been told he would be “confined to watch-house duties” if he didn’t drink. Ms Harrington said McCooke suffered from alcoholism, which he tried to address by going to rehab.

She said when McCooke’s colleagues discovered this they bullied him by putting bottles of wine in his work locker.

The court heard McCooke suffered a serious car crash in 2008 that ultimately cost him his career and now needed to be cared for by his wife.

Magistrate John Lesser acknowledged McCooke’s service but said that was not an excuse for his actions.

McCooke was fined $1000 and banned from driving until July 2022.