Mark John Hopkins fined after drink driving while on E-plates but claims he had not consumed alcohol

A South West man who was already driving with an extraordinary licence has been fined after being drunk behind the wheel more than twice the legal limit, but claimed he had not consumed alcohol the day it happened.

Mark John Hopkins appeared in Manjimup Magistrates Court on Thursday where he was handed a fine and a loss of licence after driving with alcohol in his system and failing to obey the rules of his extraordinary licence earlier this year.

Hopkins drove a Mitsubishi Triton in a southerly direction on Bridgetown-Boyup Brook Road when he was subjected to a random breath test by police officers at 4.30pm on September 11.

The breath test recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.128, meaning he was about 2.5 times the legal limit.

Hopkins was also found by police to be disobeying the rules of his extraordinary licence by failing to display E-plates, failing to provide a log book, and driving outside his endorsed days.

He was charged with driving contrary to a specified time, purpose, locality or road on an extraordinary licence, and exceed 0.08 grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Police prosecutor Sergant Troy Gildersleeve said the man had “quite a record in relation to driving”, including two other occasions of drink driving on an extraordinary licence in 2011 and 2016.

Hopkins said he was suffering from diagnosed mental health issues and “doesn’t know what happened” because he “hadn’t been drinking that day.”

Magistrate Joanne Andretich said that holding an extraordinary licence is “not a right but a privilege”.

“The fact is, that is the (blood alcohol) reading I’ve got which means that previous convictions have not had a salutary affect on you,” she said.

“I’ve got a responsibility to ensure the public understands the privilege.”

Ms Andretich handed Hopkins a $800 fine and $264.30 in court costs for failing to obey the rules of his extraordinary licence, and a $1800 fine plus 17 months’ loss of licence for drink driving. The loss of licence dates back to the day the offence was committed.

Hopkins’ extraordinary licence was also cancelled as part of his sentencing.