A soldier based at Bandiana might have put his wish to be an Army medic at risk for "foolishly" making the decision to drive after a heavy drinking session.
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Eddy Bernales Coronel initially had planned on staying put when some of his mates decided to "go into town" for some more drinks.
But defence lawyer Glenn Moody said Bernales Coronel then changed his mind and got into his Nissan Navara, which police pulled over in Young Street, Albury, on November 19 about 1.20am.
"He's foolishly made the decision later in the night that was going into town," Mr Moody submitted to Albury Local Court magistrate Sally McLaughlin on Monday, November 29.
Mr Moody said the 23-year-old was halfway through an army medic course.
Bernales Coronel, he said, knew he was going to lose his licence after previously pleading guilty to driving with a high-range prescribed concentration of alcohol.
Mr Moody said that was pertinent to his client as he needed a licence to drive a Defence Force ambulance.
He said there was also the possibility of Bernales Coronel receiving Australian Defence Force disciplinary action in the wake of his sentencing.
Ms McLaughlin, who convicted and fined Bernales Coronel $1400 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months, noted there was nothing in the nature of his driving that brought him to the attention of police.
"It appears to be completely out-of-character for you," she told Bernales Coronel, who she described as "highly intelligent".
Nevertheless, Ms McLaughlin said told Bernales Coronel that she was sure he would have been made aware after completing the traffic offender program that high-range drink-driving could quite easily have a "catastrophic" impact on him and the community.
"You made the decision to drive when clearly you did not have the ability to do so," she said.
The court heard previously that Bernales Coronel was pulled over by police for a random breath test as he headed north on Young Street.
After giving a positive result he was arrested and taken to the Albury police station, where he produced a breath analysis result of 0. 152.
Bernales Coronel told police had had drunk "eight or more" Jack Daniel's Double Jack 375 millilitre cans over two hours.
The disqualification was backdated to the time of the offence, when his licence was suspended by police.
