
‘On the piss hard’: Fisherman goes to pee in front of police
A FISHERMAN told Yeppoon Magistrates Court he had 50 drinks before driving without a licence and heading into a bush to urinate in front of police.
"Is 50 a turn of phrase?" Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale asked James Howard Durand last Thursday in court where the 26-year-old pleaded guilty to driving without a licence and being over the no-alcohol limit.
"It was all true," he replied.
"Me and my mates were on the piss hard."
Durand was stopped by police on Tavern Road, Agnes Water, on October 6 about 2.30pm after he pulled in front of a police car and walked into a bush to urinate.
The court heard he was taken to Agnes Water Police Station and recorded a BAC of 0.042g.
Durand told the court he had consumed 50 standard drinks since 10am the previous day and had been driving a friend from Tannum Sands to Agnes Water.
He said he had never held a drivers' licence because his father died in a car crash, but he had learnt to drive vehicles on a farm.
Durand said he now worked on fishing trawlers and he was about to go to sea for four and a half months.
He was fined $800 and disqualified from holding a licence for six months.