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David Graham blew .07 after being intercepted by police on Warrnambool's Fitzroy Road on October 19, 2023.
He was unlicensed and his Holden Commodore utility was not registered.
It was the man's fifth drink-driving offence, which he pleaded guilty to in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on April 22, 2024.
Lawyer Kiernan Celestina said Graham was last before the court for drink-driving on October 23 - four days after he recorded .07.
He said a medical emergency led his client to get behind the wheel of the car, and that the reading was the lowest he'd recorded in his five previous court appearances.
But magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said research showed when people drove above .05, their ability to properly control a car was "seriously compromised".
"Meaning they are a danger not only to themselves but to other people on the road," he said.
The magistrate said jail was a "very realistic" sentencing option.
"What says you should go to jail is the fact that you staggeringly had done this four times before," he said.
"Furthermore, you were disqualified (from driving) at the time. What mitigates against that is that you've had no criminal priors and that this was a low reading with no interference caused."
Graham was placed on a 16-month community correction order with 160 hours of unpaid community work.
But the magistrate said if he returned to court for drink-driving, he would receive an "immediate and significant" jail sentence.
The man's licence was disqualified for another 24 months.
There has been a number of high level drink-drivers prosecuted through the courts in 2024, including a motorist who blew .22 after driving at 100kmh on the wrong side of the road with a missing tyre, and a drunk and high motorist who side-swiped another car at road works.
One drink-driver tipped his friends out of his ute tray without realising, while another blew .127 after losing traction at up to 150kmh.
The Standard has also reported a number of drink-drivers nabbed over long weekends across the south-west, including five motorists caught with readings between .137 and .2 - four times the limit - in January, and another six on March 16 and 17.
Warrnambool police Superintendent Melissa Webbers last week said the south-west had a shocking 12 months for road trauma last year with 17 lives lost on the region's roads.
She said everyone had a role to play in road safety.