A Ballarat man had four glasses of straight whiskey before getting behind the wheel of a car and then crashed into a tree and house, a court has heard.
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The Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Thursday heard Wayne Scott was heard revving his car loudly before losing control and hitting a tree in Wendouree on July 9.
The court heard the accelerator became stuck, with the car soon clearing the tree and crashing into a nearby fence and house.
Scott was breath tested when police arrived and returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.138.
He told police he had drunk three to four glasses of whiskey over the previous few hours before getting behind the wheel.
He denied his driving was careless and put the accident down to the accelerator getting stuck.
His lawyer, Erin Churchill, told the court her client had an argument with his mum and decided to drive because he had no money for a taxi.
She said Scott now understood his driving was careless.
Magistrate Gregory Robinson sentenced Scott to a 24-month community corrections order (CCO), fined him $750 and cancelled his licence.
Scott is disqualified from driving for 26 months.
“I’m not sure what was going through your mind drinking that much whiskey and thinking you could drive,” he told Scott.
“You’re lucky you didn’t take someone out.
“Then you wouldn’t be on a CCO, you would be facing jail for up to seven years.”