Frank Rafter was just 17 years old when his drunken antics behind the wheel of a car killed one person and seriously maimed another.
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It was May 1986 and Rafter had already had a run-in with the law two months earlier when he was convicted of mid-range drink driving in Moss Vale and fined $150.
This time, he faced the charge of culpable driving under the influence causing death.
If the act of taking another’s life wasn’t enough of a wake up call for Rafter, then the six months he spent behind bars should have been.
But neither appeared to have had the desired effect on the Oak Flats man, who fronted Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday again accused of driving a car while strongly affected by alcohol.
And according to court documents, the circumstances surrounding Rafter’s most recent misconduct show yet further disregard for human safety.
Police said Rafter was seen doing a 35-metre-long burnout on a Goulburn street on January 8 moments before a female passenger either fell or jumped from the vehicle, hitting the bitumen and rolling down a concrete embankment into a creek, leaving her with serious leg and head injuries.
Emergency services were called to the scene to treat the woman. Rafter blew a positive roadside breath test and was taken back to Goulburn Police Station where he returned an alcohol reading of 0.189 – more than three times the legal limit.
He was exasperated at the reading, saying “there’s no way I can be that high, I haven’t had that much to drink”.
Rafter ultimately accepted it however, pleading guilty to charges of high-range drink driving and performing a burnout on Tuesday.
Magistrate Mark Douglass noted Rafter had driven from the Illawarra earlier in the day and was travelling between friends’ houses at the time of the incident.
The incident involving the passenger was not considered a factor in the sentencing determination.
However, Magistrate Douglass did find Rafter’s moral culpability was high given his previous record, which included a third drink driving charge in 1991. He described Rafter’s driving in the most recent offence as “erratic and aggressive”.
“Of significance was the acceleration – it left a cloud of black smoke that made the road unsafe for others who came immediately after – in short, he was showing off,” Magistrate Douglass said.
He sentenced Rafter to four months behind bars.
“You’ve taken someone’s life driving with alcohol in your system – if that hasn’t stopped you I don’t know what it will take,” Magistrate Douglass said.
Rafter immediately lodged an appeal against the decision and was released on bail.
