Drunk man crashes ute into house

A BALLARAT man smashed his ute into a house after drink driving, a court heard yesterday.Dale Keats, 19, pleaded guilty to 11 charges including reckless conduct endangering life, driving in a manner dangerous, drink driving and failing to stop after an accident. The Ballarat Magistrates Court heard Keats was drinking at an address in Alfredton before getting into a minor scuffle and driving away in his white holden ute. The court heard Keats lost control of the ute, skidding sideways, but continued to accelerate and crashed into a double garage in Boulevard Drive. The car travelled through the garage into the house, not stopping until it collided with a brick wall, Police Prosecutor Senior Constable Steven Kent said. Sen Const Kent said Keats tried to reverse out of the garage but the door had come down. He rammed it until he was able to get out and crashed into a tree.Keats then drove directly at a neighbour who yelled at him to stop, narrowly missing the person before colliding with a second tree, the court heard. He drove away quickly only caming to a stop when he crashed into a power pole. Sen Const Kent said Keats took his key out of the ignition and damaged the system to try and make it look like the ute had been stolen. The court also heard Keats had caused more than $6000 worth of damage to five vehicles in Godbehears caryard in Mair St in the early hours of July 26 after breaking in and jumping on the bonnets. Defence lawyer Mike Wardell said alcohol was an underlying feature of Keats' offending. Mr Wardell said Keats was a third-year apprentice plumber who would struggle without his car or licence to get to jobs.He said Keats was still a young man, had pleaded guilty and had family support. Magistrate Fiona Stewart told Keats he was "extremely lucky" no-one was in the house when the ute crashed into it. She convicted Keats and sentenced him to a 12 month community based order, including 150 hours of community work. Keats was also disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to pay compensation worth more than $6000.