Wilderness chief cops driving ban

THE head of the Tasmanian Conversation Trust has been disqualified from driving for 2½ years after he blew more than three times the legal blood-alcohol limit.

Trust director Peter McGlone, of Dodges Ferry, pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court in Hobart yesterday to one count of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and one count of driving a motor vehicle while exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit.

About 1am on June 3, McGlone was seen by police driving erratically along the South Arm Highway near Howrah.

His speed varied between 60 and 100km/h in the 100km/h zone and he would at times drift into the overtaking lane, the court heard.

McGlone was seen changing lanes without indicating and mounted a roundabout before he stopped on a bus stop near the Shoreline Shopping Centre.

Police said his speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot and, when they asked to see his licence, he fumbled around with his wallet before handing over his ANZ bank card.

The court taken to the heard he was Hobart Police Station where he appeared to try to delay the breath analysis, which came back with a reading of 0.167.

McGlone had been drinking at the Brisbane Hotel in the city. He said he was trying to drive to a friend’s house to sleep.

It was estimated he had drank one pint of beer an hour, but he was not sure when he had started drinking.

McGlone had one prior drink-driving offence from 1993 and he was also convicted of driving without a licence in 2010.

He said he was “shocked and disappointed by what I did”.

“I can’t explain exactly my thinking at the time,” McGlone said.

“Very rarely do I drink outside of my own home and rarely that much.”

Magistrate Reg Marron said because of McGlone’s prior drink-driving offence having a moderate reading, he would not impose a jail term, but warned him a third conviction would result in a prison sentence.

“If I had seen you driving down the highway that way, I would have pulled over, got out and run away,” he said.

“You could have killed me with that driving.”

He disqualified McGlone from driving for 30 months.