'Think of your partner and kid being dead': Magistrate warns against drug driving

Joseph William Clarke, 23, of Darling Street Dubbo, pleaded guilty to drive vehicle illicit drug present in blood when he faced Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday, April 24.

Court documents say at 2.10pm on December 10, 2023 a silver coloured Mazda driven by Clarke was stopped by police on Cobra Street Dubbo for a random breath and drug testing.

Clarke provided a negative breath test but returned a positive drug test.

He was arrested and taken to Dubbo Police Station for a secondary drug swipe test which returned a positive reading to cannabis.

Clarke was asked a number of questions about his drug taking, but he just told the police, "I just had some".

He was prohibited from driving for 24 hours due to the positive test.

Clarke's solicitor told the court the only reason Clarke used drugs was for pain management but he has stopped using cannabis.

"Him and his partner are expecting and he knows he needs to shape up and has instructed me he has done so," they said.

Magistrate Aaron Tang told Clarke he has exciting but challenging times ahead.

"You need to step up for your wife and family, your kid will be your world so you need to get on top of the drug use and take a different course of action to manage your pain and sleep without the use of drugs," he said.

"Now that you have a kid on the way, each time you hop behind the wheel of a car, think of your partner and kid being dead because someone irresponsible like you got behind the wheel of car with drugs in their system and crashed into their car."

Clarke was convicted and fined $300 and disqualified from driving for six months.