Malcolm Robert Bowden sentenced in Tamworth court after high-range drink driving in Moore Creek area

Malcolm Robert Bowden, 56, was more than three times the legal blood alcohol limit when he drunk drove a Mazda ute through Moore Creek in the early hours of February 19.

He pleaded guilty to the single charge of high-range drink driving and was sentenced in Tamworth Local Court last week.

Magistrate Julie Soars handed him a $500 fine, criminal conviction, a 12-month good behaviour order and disqualified him from driving for six months.

She said by drink driving in the Moore Creek area, on the outskirts of Tamworth, he had put himself and others at risk.

She said it was concerning because most of the roads don't have street lights and some have a speed limit of up to 100km per hour.

"The rules apply to everyone and they are there to keep everyone safe," she said.

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The court heard part of Bowden's job as a primary producer required him to drive a tractor, sometimes on the roads.

Ms Soars said she understood fitting the interlock device to both a tractor and a vehicle would be an extra cost for Bowden.

Defence solicitor Geoffrey Archer told the court Bowden only drove a very short distance before he was pulled over for a breath test by an unmarked police car.

He said there were no aggravating factors.

Police facts show officers spotted the Mazda ute "travelling around the streets of Moore Creek with no sense of direction" and pulled him over. He returned a positive roadside breath test.

Police said he was cooperative and was taken back to the police station, where he returned a breath analysis reading of 0.178.

Bowden told police he had drunk 10 bottles of mid-strength beer at a private home between 5pm and after midnight.

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