Silverchair frontman and general person of musical sorts Daniel Johns has left Newcastle Local Court today with not much more than a light slap on the wrist following a sentencing hearing for a drink driving offence that occurred back in October.
The court found that Johns must have known he was affected by alcohol when he was pulled over for suspected speeding by Newcastle police on the night of October 28th of last year. Police estimated that he was travelling at between 70 and 80 km/h in a 50 zone. Though as the speed was merely an estimate, Johns wasn’t charged for that.
What they did find, however, was that Johns appeared to be “moderately” affected by alcohol, with bloodshot, watery eyes and smelling strongly of booze. Following a breathalyser test, Johns was found to have a blood alcohol reading of 0.126. Or, in other words, he was fucking blind.
The court determined that Johns must have known he was drunk, and if not then he must’ve been a “hardened drinker.” Johns argued that the reading was a result of having four large glasses of wine. We argue that to blow 0.126, those four “glasses” would have to have been fishtanks.
Johns pleaded guilty to the offence back in November and was ordered to attend a traffic offenders program before returning to court to hear his sentence.
Magistrate Day had earlier, with a knowing smirk, almost sarcastically asked if Johns had the capacity to pay a fine, looking at the singer and remarking, “Not a problem?“
He also commended Johns’ good character and clean criminal record, though noted his driving history was not exactly spotless.
Johns was handed an $880 fine and disqualified from driving until June 4th.
Talking to reporters outside the court room, Johns stated his remorse. “I made a mistake, for which I am really sorry. I completed the traffic offenders program and it will never happen again.“
By all accounts, Johns can count himself rather fortunate with that penalty. If the offence had occurred in the state of Victoria, for example, he would’ve received a significant fine, had his license suspended from anywhere between 10 and 14 months, and have a mandatory six month Interlock period enforced when he returned to the wheel.
Lucky lad.
Photo: Mark Metcalfe via Getty Images.
via The Newcastle Herald.
