Repeat drug driver ordered off roads

A TOOWOOMBA man caught drug driving three times within three months has been ordered off the road for three and a half years.

Thomas John Reynolds had initially been pulled over by police on Plant St, Helidon, about 3.55pm, August 24, and tested positive to having marijuana in his system, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

The 29-year-old was then found to have had methylamphetamine and MDMA (ecstasy) in his system after being caught driving on the Warrego Highway at Helidon in the early hours of September 15 after which his driver’s licence was suspended.

He had then tested positive to having methamphetamine in his saliva when tested after being pulled over by police on the New England Highway, Mt Kynoch, on the afternoon of October 28, police prosecutor Sergeant Natalie Bugden told the court.

Because his licence had been suspended for the previous drug driving incident, Reynolds was also driving while on a suspended licence, placing him at risk of losing his licence for two years.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to all three drug driving offences as well as to having a small amount of methylamphetamine when searched by police after being pulled over on Polo St, Newtown, on September 1.

His solicitor Nathan Bouchier (Bouchier Khan Lawyers) told the court his client recognised he had an issue with illicit substances and had since been receiving counselling from the Lives Lived Well drug service.

His client also had a very supportive employer who had arranged his work schedule in such a way that he could continue to receive counselling and complete a previous community service order, Mr Bouchier said.

Because each drug driving offence would generate a sixmonth driving disqualification on top of the two years his client would receive for driving on the suspended licence, his client was looking at a lengthy disqualification period, he submitted.

Magistrate Damian Carroll placed Reynolds on two years probation to include random testing for illicit drugs and disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for three and a half years.