WODONGA man Desmond John Bownds was guaranteed to attract police attention through incoherent behaviour and the clothing he was wearing.
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When stopped for a random breath test in Albury’s Dean Street last year, his skin was pale, he had bloodshot eyes, drooping eyelids and was unsteady on his feet.
A court heard yesterday a breath test for alcohol was negative, but police formed the view after a sobriety test he was affected by drugs.
Any doubt would undoubtedly have been erased when officers saw the black track suit pants he was wearing.
There was a logo which said “affected” and had a cannabis leaf underneath it.
Sure enough, he tested positive for the drug and a report received by police in January said Bownds’ ability to drive would have been impaired by his cannabis consumption.
Bownds, 22, of Morrison Street, pleaded guilty in Albury Local Court to charges of unlicensed driving and driving under the influence.
Magistrate Tony Murray fined Bownds a total of $1200 and disqualified him from driving for 15 months.
Mr Murray said Bownds was well affected by cannabis and the situation was exacerbated by the fact he had never held a licence.
He was described as being “unbelievably stupid” by Mr Murray because his condition and clothing would have been “just like a beacon” to the police.
Bownds was driving in Dean Street about 1am on September 16 last year when he was stopped near QEII square.
He was asked for his licence and said he didn’t have one.
The registration for the vehicle he was driving, which belonged to someone else, had expired on June 21, 2009.
Bownds was unsteady on his feet and staggering.
He told police he had smoked three bongs of cannabis that night.
He was taken to the Albury Base Hospital for blood and urine samples to be taken.