A Thurgoona man made the fateful decision to get in his car to drive out of fear he might otherwise lose his job.
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But in so doing, Jamie Bruce Nichol has landed himself in Albury Local Court for a second offence of disqualified driving.
Defence solicitor Jason Hanke said Nichol had been told that if he didn’t drive to a particular work site “to be picked up”, he would find himself out of work.
Mr Hanke told magistrate Rodney Brender that it was clear this was not a legal defence, rather it was offered to the court as an excuse for what he did.
“There’s quite a long record in Victoria,” Mr Brender earlier pointed out regarding Nicol’s offences for disqualified driving and driving with alcohol in his system.
Mr Hanke said those matters were “quite old”.
Nicol, 35, was pulled over on the Hume Freeway at Thurgoona on June 4 about 5.10pm.
His licence had been disqualified for two years from April 19, 2017.
“You need to make a concerted effort to obey the law,” Mr Brender said, though he pointed out he did not want his sentence “to crush you”.
He was convicted and fined $1000 and put on a 12-month bond.
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