Driving with a relevant drug present in blood or saliva

Offence/s:

Driving with a relevant drug present in blood or saliva

Court Heard

Holland Park Magistrates Court

Solicitor

Ms Colleen Battersby

Date

31 October 2022

Overview/Result

Our client came to the attention of police when they were conducting static speed enforcement and observed him speeding. Upon the police approaching our client’s vehicle, he was charged with driving with a relevant drug present in his blood or saliva.

As a result of this charge, our client was facing a mandatory driver license disqualification of 1 month. However, our client’s traffic history was such that he had 3 previous offences within a five-year period. This saw the relevant driver licence disqualification period increase to a minimum of 6 months.

We provided our client with information surrounding the nature of the charge and the court process. We further advised him of steps he can take to prepare for his sentence, such as completing the QTOP program, obtaining character references and completing a drug education course.

Our client was in a position where he required a driver licence for his employment position, however was not eligible in circumstances where he had previous offences in the past five years. As a result, it was important our client completed the sentence preparations we recommended to mitigate his penalty.

At the sentence, Ms Colleen Battersby (Criminal lawyer) made submissions on our client’s behalf. She noted relevant mitigating factors such as:

• the impact a loss of licence will have on our client and his employment;
• the particular circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence;
• his genuine remorse as evidenced through his completion of the QTOP program and engagement with his psychologist to address his substance abuse;
• his cooperation with the police; and
• his acceptance of responsibility for the offending.

Ultimately, the Court accepted Ms Battersby’s submissions, and we secured an outcome of a period of probation and a nine-month disqualification period.

In circumstances where our client’s traffic history was such that he had 3 previous offences, he was expecting a harsher penalty and a much longer disqualification period. Our client was grateful we were able to secure him this outcome.

WARNING

This is a summary of an actual case. Details have been omitted to protect the privacy of our client. We select cases which are informative and no guarantee is provided that similar results are achievable in all cases.

Every case is different and you should obtain legal advice specific to your matter and circumstances.