A Wollongong real estate agent and auctioneer with an "appalling" traffic record has been banned getting behind the wheel for six months and ordered to attend counselling for alcohol abuse after being convicted of his fourth drink-driving charge.
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Justin Sydenham, a property partner at The Agency Illawarra, was placed on a two-year community corrections order and fined $1100 in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to a charge of mid-range drink-driving.
As part of the order, Sydenham must attend Community Corrections for treatment and rehabilitation regarding his alcohol dependence.
He has also been banned from getting behind the wheel for six months, then when he does get his licence back, must have an alcohol interlock device fitted in his vehicle for 12 months.
Any suggestion he miscalculated his alcohol consumption or didn't know he'd had too much to drink I [reject]. He should have had nothing.
Documents tendered to the court reveal police pulled Sydenham's VW Touareg over on Lawrence Hargrave Drive at Thirroul just before 12.30am on May 30 for a random breath test.
He tested positive for alcohol and was returned to Corrimal Police Station for a breath analysis.
Sydenham returned an alcohol reading of 0.081 - putting him just into the mid-range category.
He told police he'd drunk two beers and one wine between 7pm and 11pm and had not eaten.
His licence was suspended on the spot and he was issued a notice to attend court.
Sydenham pleaded guilty to the charge of mid-range-drink driving on Tuesday, with defence lawyer Martin Zanolla saying his client was remorseful for what he'd done and had had the "year from hell" with personal and professional problems mounting against him.
He acknowledged Sydenham's traffic record was not a good one but said his client's last drink-driving matter was more than 10 years prior.
"He stuck to the 'one standard drink an hour' and thought he was okay to drive," he said.
However Magistrate Jillian Kiely was highly critical of Sydenham's actions, saying he should have known better given it was his fourth such charge.
"Any suggestion he miscalculated his alcohol consumption or didn't know he'd had too much to drink I [reject]," she said.
"He should have had nothing."
She said no quantity of alcohol was safe to drink before driving, noting there were too many variables - such as someone's height, weight, liver function, food intake, medications etc that affect how the body processes alcohol.
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