At 5.20pm on Thursday, November 16 last year Todd Allen Rooney hopped into a blue and white striped Ford Escort panel van and pulled out of the carpark of The Mill Hotel in Milperra.
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It was raining lightly as the Milton man turned right onto Beaconsfield Road.
But Rooney knew he shouldn’t be driving. Not only had he had two long necks before he got behind the wheel, his licence was suspended until 2032.
The 40-year-old said a cat "jumped out" as he drove, causing him to lose control, slide sideways and smash into a parked ute. The owner heard the crash and came out to see Rooney get in the van and drive away.
At 7.20pm police arrived at the scene and found Rooney had returned. While speaking with police he was drooling and smelt of alcohol.
"I was nervous after the crash so I drove down the street and drank a bottle of bourbon... and half of this bottle of (pre)mixed stuff. I came back and spoke to the bloke and said sorry and waited for you to come,” he admitted to police.
Rooney pleaded guilty to his seventh conviction of driving while disqualified and negligent driving when he appeared in Milton Local Court on March 8.
“To tell you the truth,” Rooney said to Magistrate Gabriel Fleming.
“Well, that’s be a good idea because you are in court,” she quipped back.
“My record isn't much better than anyone who's been here today.” he said.
“I’d say it's worse,” she said.
Rooney who despite having several drink driving,dangerous driving, refusal to submit to a breath test and several speeding offences told the court he’s been “pretty good since 2002”.
“You went to jail in 2013 for the same thing and you're currently disqualified until 2034,” Magistrate Fleming replied.
“Yeah. It did my head in to try and work it out… I did hire a solicitor several years ago, but he made a mess of everything,” he said.
“You know who's made a mess out of everything?” she snapped.
“Yeah, me,” he said.
“You’ve already served a jail sentence and you keep doing the same thing... This is the seventh time you're going to be convicted of driving while disqualified. What did you think would happen today?” she asked.
“Nothing good,” he said.
Despite Magistrate Fleming saying “It would be entirely irresponsible of the court to not sentence you to jail. We may as well rip up the licensing system and say drive whenever you like.”
Rooney was given a nine-month suspended jail sentence, fined $1439 and disqualified from driving for a further 12 months.
“Your last offence was 2013, five years ago, so you can do the right thing if you set your mind to it; and you're addressing your problems with your [health team],” she said.
Magistrate Fleming hoped Rooney would be able to address his problems more meaningfully while if he has access to his support services rather than in full-time custody.