Graham Dennis Todd pleads guilty to drink driving charge in Tamworth court

Graham Dennis Todd fronted Tamworth Local Court and pleaded guilty to drink driving after he was caught more than double the legal limit.

Defence solicitor Harry Pendlebury said the 51-year-old had only eaten a sandwich for lunch that day before he was pulled over at about 9:40pm on South Street in Manilla.

Mr Pendlebury said Todd had been working outdoors all day before his friend invited him around for a rotisserie dinner, and five cans of beer.

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"He was reluctant to have any rotisserie because he didn't want to take his friend's meal," Mr Pendlebury told the court.

"Had he have eaten he could have been below [the legal BAC limit]."

Todd was pulled over by police on Saturday, June 3, 2023, when he was travelling home from his friend's house.

At the time he told police he had finished his last drink just 10 minutes before he was stopped.

Officers waited five minutes before testing Todd - who returned a blood alcohol level of 0.107.

"He's of good character, he simply miscalculated the drinks," Mr Pendlebury told the court.

Magistrate Julie Soars said Todd had put the community "at risk", and warned him to think before getting behind the wheel.

"It's always cheaper to get a taxi," she said.

Mr Pendlebury asked the court to consider sentencing Todd to a good behaviour order without a criminal conviction, and removing the mandatory interlock requirement.

The court heard Todd relied on having a licence and operated specialised trucks which could not be fitted with an interlock for work.

Mr Pendlebury said he would lose his job if the interlock requirement was not removed.

"Having a licence is paramount to his employment," he said.

"He's been stood down while the matter crystallises."

Police prosecutor Sergeant Rob Baillie argued against a non-conviction, and said it was quite a "high reading".

"The prosecution today is really not favourable to that," he said.

Ms Soars sentenced Todd to a two-year good behaviour order with no criminal conviction, and made an exception to remove the mandatory interlock requirement to keep him employed.

Todd must have zero alcohol in his blood while driving for the period of the order.

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