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An "absolutely foolish" decision by a Tarago man to drive while intoxicated resulted in a car crash that seriously injured his friend, a court has been told.
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Stephen Bessell, 28, of Tarago, pleaded guilty in Goulburn Local Court on Wednesday, July 19, to one count of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning actual bodily harm.
Magistrate Geraldine Beattie sentenced him to a 22-month intensive corrections order and disqualified him from driving for a year.
The court heard that Bessell and a male friend attended a concert in Canberra on Thursday, November 10, 2022 and afterwards visited several licensed premises. Magistrate Geraldine Beattie said Bessell was captured on CCTV "showing clear signs of intoxication".
"In that state, when your friend needed to get home (to Tarago) you made the very poor decision to drive, knowing you had consumed alcohol, knowing the distance and that you'd had little sleep," she said.
"Unfortunately but not surprisingly, on the way home you crashed, with the vehicle crossing the centre line and rolling."
The crash occurred just before 4am on Friday, November 12 on Tarago Road at Lake George.
Magistrate Beattie said Bessell's friend was ejected on to the road, suffered a serious head injury, was airlifted to Canberra Hospital and underwent surgery. The passenger subsequently had a skin graft to repair a head wound and had been left with "significant scarring and distortion on the top of his head".
Bessell also sustained injury and was taken to Queanbeyan Hospital where he was treated and underwent a blood alcohol reading. This revealed a 0.196 reading, Magistrate Beattie said.
Bessell's barrister, Hugh White, said his client had pleaded guilty at the "earliest possible opportunity" and had fully cooperated with police.
"My submission is it was an absolutely foolish thing to do. There was no doubt he was intoxicated...," he said.
But while not wishing to minimise the passenger's injuries, Mr White said they were at "the lower end of the scale". The injured man was a friend of Bessell's, was in court supporting him and didn't want the accused to go to prison, Mr White told the court.
He said Bessell had previous drink driving offences on his record which were at "the lower end of the range".
"There is no doubt he (Bessell) has an alcohol problem but he recognises this and is addressing it. His alcohol consumption has reduced since the incident," Mr White said.
He said Bessell had lived with mental health problems, which a psychologist had speculated to be a form of bipolar disorder that could lead to "poor decision making".
"He was not planning to drive and was going to stay (in Canberra) the night but felt an obligation to take his friend home," Mr White said.
"He's addressing every problem and is extremely apologetic and assures the court it won't happen again."
The court heard that Bessell was undergoing alcohol rehabilitation and receiving mental health treatment.
Mr White argued a prison term would not benefit his client or the community in terms of his rehabilitation and asked for either a community service order or an intensive corrections order.
Magistrate Beattie said the charge, which involved a high-range alcohol reading, carried a maximum 11 years' prison.
"That gives you an indication of the level of seriousness...It is a very alarming episode," she said to Bessell.
However she assessed the passenger's injury at "just below mid-range" and acknowledged that Bessell had completed a traffic offender's program. References also described Bessell as "normally a helpful, responsible, thoughtful and hard working person".
"They speak to your remorse, that the incident has changed you and that you have taken responsibility for your actions. They (also) talk to your emotional distress because of the situation you put (your passenger) in."
The magistrate said an assessing psychologist had found Bessell was "highly motivated" to address his mental health.
She imposed a 22 month intensive corrections order which was conditional on completion of a sober drivers course, engaging in alcohol and mental health treatment and ceasing drug and alcohol use.
The magistrate also disqualified Bessell from driving for 12 months, backdated to his February disqualification, and ordered that an interlock device be applied to his vehicle for three years after this period ended.
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