A fine welcome to Qld for WA man

A MOVE from Perth to Toowoomba wasn’t quite the fresh start Vance McCarthy had planned after he copped a $1000 fine.

Police alerted to a car being driven on the wrong side of the road on Prince Henry Drive on June 2 had found the 52-year-old in a blue Ford utility, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

Getting out of the car, police noticed McCarthy was unsteady on his feet and that his speech was slurred, police prosecutor Christie Mahoney told the court.

The driver admitted to police he had been smoking synthetic cannabis and when a road-side breath test proved negative to alcohol, he was taken to the hospital where a blood sample was taken.

Senior Constable Mahoney said the result of that test had not yet been received but the defendant had been charged with driving while under the influence of a drug based on his demeanour at the time.

The self-represented McCarthy pleaded guilty to the charge.

He told the court he had moved from Perth to Queensland looking for employment but as a result of the drug driving incident he had lost his job.

He said he had been under duress at the time due to the work he was doing.

Magistrate Kay Ryan noted McCarthy had nothing of a like nature in his history and ordered the conviction not be recorded.

McCarthy was fined $1000 and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for six months.