![Drunk friend fell asleep on back of ute as mid-range driver took off from hotel Drunk friend fell asleep on back of ute as mid-range driver took off from hotel](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/zTpV5j6X6iLmSh5SbcmSaP/eb15502b-7f30-41b0-a90c-af16e1f52d3a.jpg/r0_0_1260_708_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A Springdale Heights man has been told his drink-driving had the potential to have killed a drunk mate who had fallen asleep in the back of his ute.
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In turn, that could have had Douglas Jon Reeves packed off to jail.
Albury Local Court magistrate Brett Thomas said on Monday, April 24, that Reeves' actions in driving off from the Springdale Heights Tavern while drunk and without wearing his prescription glasses represented a "bad combination".
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Mr Thomas said Reeves, who police saw drive out of the hotel on March 27 about 11.20pm with a mate seated beside him and the other man in the utility's tray, could so easily have been facing a culpable driving-related charge in a higher court.
"You wouldn't be here would you? You'd be next door," he said, motioning towards the District Court also located in the Albury courthouse.
Mr Thomas said that ultimately would have involved Reeves being sentenced before a judge.
"I would have thought (you'd get) at least three years (in jail)," he said.
Instead, Reeves, who pleaded guilty to driving with a mid-range prescribed concentration of alcohol, was convicted and fined $800 and disqualified from holding a driver's licence for three months.
Mr Thomas told the 22-year-old, after backdating the sentence to the time his licence was suspended by police, that he was willing to ensure he was "back on the road as soon as possible".
The court was told police were leaving the hotel, having just carried out a routine patrol, when they saw Reeves in the driver's seat of his ute.
They also saw another man beside him and the third in the ute's tray.
Moments later they saw Reeves driving out of the car park and heading west along Kaitlers Road.
It was then that police decided to stop Reeves and get him to undergo a preliminary breath test.
On approaching the driver's door, they noticed the man in the back was "well-affected" by alcohol.
Reeves later provided a breath analysis reading of 0.09.
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