A man given a community-based six-month jail term three weeks ago for threatening a taxi driver has broken an isolation order imposed over his COVID-19 diagnosis.
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Matthew Settle has fronted Albury Local Court via a video link to the Albury police station cells following his arrest for mid-range drink-driving.
Police said the North Albury man, 33, went to the APCO service station in Mate Street on Sunday about 1am.
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Settle got out and put petrol in his car, then police arrived over unrelated matters.
They spoke to him for about five minutes and realised he was "moderately affected" by alcohol.
He then gave a positive result to a preliminary breath test.
After he was searched and placed in the back of the caged police vehicle, Settle asked them: "You know I'm COVID-positive, right?"
Settle was taken to the Albury police station, where he provided a blood alcohol reading of 0.148.
While in custody he showed police a health service text message that indicated he was positive to COVID-19 and that he must now isolate.
"The accused," police said, "could not provide any proof that he had since tested negatively."
Settle, who told magistrate Richard Funston he was double-vaccinated, also could not explain why he had failed to self-isolate.
He pleaded guilty to driving with a mid-range prescribed concentration of alcohol and fail to comply with a self-isolation direction and was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, with supervision.
Settle was disqualified from driving for six months.
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