Lovepreet Dhaliwal, 24, from the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to drink driving, unlicensed driving and possession of a schedule eight poison.
Dhaliwal was pulled over by police while driving a white Toyota Camry on Wyndham St in Shepparton about 4.30am on Saturday, December 23, 2023.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Sarah Bird said when police breath-tested Dhaliwal, he recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.136.
When police asked Dhaliwal why he was drink driving, he said he “just want to go home and sleep, too much stress”, Sen Constable Bird said.
He also only had an Indian Union driver’s licence.
The court was told when police searched Dhaliwal, they found two bottles of kaminividravana rasa, a schedule eight poison.
Representing himself in court, Dhaliwal said kaminividravana rasa was an Indian medicine, not a poison.
He said he went to a shop to buy a different painkiller and was given this as a substitute.
Dhaliwal said he “just bought it, and didn’t even use it”. He also said his father had died five days earlier.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski warned Dhaliwal he was “lucky you’ve just been charged (with drink driving)”.
“We all have reasons we do things, but you will have to live with the consequences,” Mr Zebrowski said.
Dhaliwal said he had “learned my lesson”.
He was fined $800 and disqualified from driving for 13 months.
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