An apprentice electrician held in such high esteem that he took out a young citizen of the year award has fronted court over a serious crash in Lavington that followed a night of heavy drinking.
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Two years ago, Grant-Patrick Smith’s life was on a high after receiving the honour for what was then the Jerilderie Shire.
Smith was also a co-captain at Finley High School for 2016.
But defence solicitor Mark Cronin told Albury Local Court this week what had eventuated for Smith on the night of November 10 was “very sad for a young man”.
The crash left him with a range of serious injuries, which meant he was back home living with his parents unable to continue in his first-year apprenticeship.
A shoulder injury in particular had kept him out of work, though he also suffered from three fractured ribs, a fractured sternum and internal injuries.
“I suppose the silver lining is that he’s here,” Mr Cronin told magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim, referring to how fortunate the now 20-year-old was to have survived the head-on crash into a tree.
Over four hours at a Hamilton Valley house, Smith, then 19, drank six or seven stubbies of full-strength beer and two cans of mixed spirits, the equivalent of 11 standard drinks.
As a probationary licence holder he was not allowed to have alcohol in his system, but claimed he was not “feeling full effects of the drinks” so decided to drive to his then residence in St Levans Place, Lavington.
It was about 9.10pm when Smith drove his Toyota Corolla sedan north in Osborne Street before failing to negotiate the sharp bend in the road into Wealands Street.
Police said the car left the road and “impacted heavily” with a large gum tree, causing extensive damage to Smith’s car and leaving him with “a number of serious injuries” and unconscious at the wheel. He was taken to Albury hospital, where he remained a patient “for some time”.
A blood sample showed he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.147, which Mr Abdul-Karim noted was just below a high-range reading.
Smith pleaded guilty to driving with a mid-range prescribed concentration of alcohol and to use an unregistered vehicle. The registration had expired just 11 days earlier.
Smith was put on a two-year good behaviour bond, convicted and fined $700 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.