A 55-year-old Canowindra man has been fined $200 and disqualified from driving for three months at Cowra Local Court on Wednesday, May 8.
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David Michael Thurtell was before the court charged with low range drink driving.
According to police facts around 7.03pm on Wednesday, February 27, police were travelling Waddell Street when they observed a vehicle traveling towards them.
Police conducted a u-turn to stop the vehicle for a random breath test. The vehicle then pulled in to a residence and stopped.
Thurtell exited the vehicle and police approached him to inform him of the stop. Police determined that the residence was not Thurtell's address and proceeded with a breath test.
The test returned a positive reading and Thurtell was taken to the Canowindra Police Station for a secondary test.
The secondary test returned a reading of 0.076 grams of alcohol in 210 litres of breath.
In relation to his drinking, Thurtell told police he had consumed one long neck of beer 15 minutes before being stopped.
Thurtell's solicitor Geoff Casey told the court his client had been working at home and had only driven a short distance to water a neighbour's garden who was away.
Magistrate Michael O'Brien said while Thurtell had been before the court a number of times previously for similar offences, his completion of the traffic offenders program lowered the seriousness of his offending.
"It's often the case that these things occur short distances from home," he said.
"He didn't bring himself to the attention of the authorities and he has completed the traffic offenders program.
"While his previous appearances should have been a wake up call, the traffic offender program does mitigate his offending."