A DRIVER four-and-half times the legal limit who crashed into a bridge while going home drunk has been not convicted and fined $3000 for his second drink driving offence.
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Billy Jade O'Keefe, 30, of Zieglar Parade, Allansford, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to drink driving.
He was also banned from driving for 46 months.
Defence counsel Alex McColloch said O'Keefe held a senior position with a company and asked his client receive no conviction and fine as his work may in future require him to travel overseas.
He said O'Keefe supervised a dozen employees and his client described his actions as "brainless".
At the time of the offending O'Keefe was drinking a dozen mid-strength stubbies a day, but now only drinks at weekends after attending counselling at the Western Region Alcohol and Drug Centre.
Mr McCulloch said on the day O'Keefe was picked up by police, he had been drinking the night before with workmates after finishing a construction job.
They started drinking again the next morning.
The solicitor said O'Keefe had written off his uninsured $20,000 vehicle and suffered bruising and whiplash.
After losing his driver's licence he had to relocate from Allansford to Warrnambool.
Police said that at 5.15pm on June 4 O'Keefe was heading east along the Grassmere Road in his Mitsubishi ute when he drifted and collided into the side of a bridge.
No one else was in the car and O'Keefe was taken to hospital for treatment.
A blood sample was taken at the Warrnambool Base Hospital and O'Keefe recorded an alcohol reading of .231.
Magistrate John Lesser said that in 2007 O'Keefe should have learnt his lesson when he was caught drink diving and he needed to plan around his drinking.
He decided not to impose a conviction as that may impact on O'Keefe's work.
