A serial drink-driver has avoided jail in Queensland for crashing his motorised wheelchair into a police car while almost five times over the legal limit.
Jean-Paul Escudie, 65, faced Cairns Magistrate Court today after pleading guilty to his seventh drink-driving charge since 2005.
The court was told Escudie crashed his
motorised wheelchair into an unmarked police car in the Cairns CBD on August 5 after a pub session followed by dinner and drinks with friends.
No-one was injured and the incident caused minimal damage, but he was charged with drink-driving after recording a blood-alcohol reading of 0.232 per cent.
French-born Escudie was given a six-month suspended prison sentence after passing out in a turning lane on the Captain Cook Highway in his wheelchair while more than six times over the limit in 2008.
Magistrate Jane Bentley said Mr Escudie's latest offence meant that sentence needed to be enacted but imposed a cumulative sentence of nine months for both offences.
However, she ordered he be granted parole immediately because his offences were not as serious as if he'd been in charge of a car.
"You were a risk to yourself rather than a risk to others," she said.
Defence lawyer John Magoffin said that although Escudie did not require a driver's licence to operate the wheelchair, it was classified as a vehicle because it could reach speeds of up to 15km/h.
The court heard Escudie had stopped driving a car after being caught drink-driving five times between 2005 and 2007.
He then switched to a motorised wheelchair because health problems meant he was not able to walk long distances, Mr Magoffin said.
He said Escudie's drink-driving history, described as "appalling" by the magistrate, began after the death of his wife in 2004.
He said he had difficulty coping with her loss and had developed a drinking problem, although he had made attempts to improve his behaviour.
- AAP
