A North Albury man committed an "incredibly dangerous" act through drink-driving with his two very young children in the back seat, a magistrate has said.
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"I have no doubt that you're a good family man," Richard Funston told Roger Michael Smith, who was arrested at a police border checkpoint in Howlong.
"But the fact is on that day you were twice the legal limit and there were two children in the car."
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Mr Funston said on Monday that the presence of the youngsters, aged 6 and 4, meant Smith had to have his licence disqualified for longer than the usual minimum period of three months.
Instead, he disqualified Smith for four months.
That came after the 54-year-old pleaded guilty to driving with a mid-range prescribed concentration of alcohol.
Defence lawyer Mark Cronin said Smith - who willingly approached the border checkpoint, as he had the required permits and proof of identity and so "knew what he was doing" - was not aware of his degree of intoxication.
"He was very surprised by the reading he gave," he said.
Mr Cronin said Smith had been driving to Howlong, with a trailer on the back, to get his lawnmower serviced, having had five beers that day.
"There's no aggravation (in his driving) aside from the children in the vehicle," he said.
Albury Local Court was told that Smith was arrested after he provided a positive preliminary breath test reading at the checkpoint on October 14 about 5.45pm.
He had downed five Miller Chill beers between 2.30pm and 5.30pm.
Smith was also fined $700 and will have to have an interlock device fitted to his vehicle for 12 months when his disqualification ends.
