JUDGE TELLS COWGIRL TO BUCK UP ATTITUDE
A BLONDE-HAIRED, blueeyed cowgirl has been told to buck up her attitude as she was sentenced for drink-driving.
Jessie Lowe, a contract musterer, pleaded guilty to driving over the middle alcohol limit on a provisional licence in Ingham on July 25 when she appeared in the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Police prosecutor Len Brown said Ingham Police saw Lowe leave the Hinchinbrook Hotel about 12.30am, enter her vehicle and drive off, turning south on Townsville Road, the Bruce Highway.
He said when Lowe was pulled over police immediately noticed the defendant had red, bloodshot eyes and flushed cheeks.
“Upon questioning she stated she couldn’t recall how much alcohol she had consumed, however, she believed she had consumed eight or nine 10-ounce glasses of rum and pineapple juice … between 6.45pm and 12.15am.”
Lowe, who recorded 0.063, well above the no-alcohol limit, was also on a six-month good-behaviour order for a demerit licence suspension.
Defence lawyer Nick Douglas said the drink-driving charge would mean the revocation of the good-behaviour order and a suspended licence.
He urged the mandatory minimum three months disqualification period, which he understood would run concurrently to the six-month demerit suspension.
“She’s a young person, it’s a serious incident and she’s obviously learned as a result of this … the drinking itself is probably something she can take away from this regardless of the reading,” Mr Douglas said.
Magistrate Scott Luxton gave Lowe credit for her cooperation with police and early guilty plea, but then fired a shot across her bow.
“Can I say that for someone who has not held a driver’s licence for a significant period of time, your start out on your licence is a poor one.
“When you do get your licence back you need to be a lot more careful about how you go about the way that you drive and you need to exercise extreme caution when it comes to consuming alcohol.”
On the drink-driving conviction Lowe was disqualified from driving for three months.