A magistrate has expressed his dismay that a North Albury man thought he'd be fine to drive after drinking up to a dozen schooners of beer.
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"I mean, what was he thinking?" Richard Funston asked after Jeffrey Garlett pleaded guilty to high-range drink-driving.
"It just beggars belief that people could think they can drink and drive at that range."
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Defence lawyer Angus Lingham submitted that the threshold for a full-time jail sentence had not been crossed.
Mr Funston suggested he agreed, though did not commit himself - at this stage - to taking such a course of action.
"I'm not saying today I'll be locking you up," he told Garlett, on ordering a sentence assessment report.
Albury Local Court has heard that Garlett, a 31-year-old labourer, was the holder of a provisional P2 Victorian driver's licence.
Police were heading east in North Street, North Albury, on November 15 about 12am when they saw a utility go through a red light at the Young Street intersection.
They activated their warning lights and sirens, but the driver did not stop.
Instead, the ute travelled along Frauenfelder Street before going slowly around a corner.
They stopped and then spoke to Garlett, noticing a strong smell of alcohol. Garlett was also slurring his words.
He admitted he had been drinking, having downed his last about 45 minutes before.
Garlett failed a breath test and so was arrested and taken to Albury police station, where he provided a reading of 0.241 from his 3pm to 11pm drinking session.
"I had about 10 to 12 schooners of Carlton Dry," he said.
"I only ate chips and Twisties."
Garlett will be sentenced on March 1.
