Judge sends strong message to drunk skateboarder
CHASTENED and apologetic, Corey Mitchell Symes hurried from a Sunshine Coast court yesterday without realising he had probably made Queensland history for all the wrong reasons.
He had been convicted and fined for drink-driving his skateboard.
In what Maroochydore magistrate Tom Killeen described as "silly conduct", the apprentice carpenter, 22, from Alexandra Headland, pleaded guilty to being under the influence of liquor while riding his skateboard on a public road last month.
Police prosecutor Acting Senior Constable Leanne Chawner said police had seen Symes riding his skateboard from Buderim Ave on to Mooloolaba Esplanade about 11.40pm on September 21.
He went through traffic lights and swerved between lanes at speed while clutching an open can of rum.
Police said when they stopped Symes his speech was slurred, his eyes were red and watery and he admitted to drinking rum and beer earlier in the night.
He recorded a blood alcohol content of .095.
In entering his guilty plea, Symes told Mr Killeen he was "sincerely sorry" for his actions and would never repeat them.
Symes said he was two weeks from finishing his four-year carpentry apprenticeship and asked that his driving licence not be affected because he needed to go to Nambour TAFE.
Noting that Symes had a previous driving offence in NSW, Mr Killeen ordered that a conviction be recorded and fined him $300.
"You understand how dangerous your conduct was," he told Symes. "You were affected by alcohol and screaming down a hill towards a road intersection.
"You could have got yourself killed or caused accidents to other people on the road by your conduct."
Saying it was not necessary to disqualify Symes' licence because he had not been behind the wheel of a car at the time, Mr Killeen said that could change if he came before the court again "for this sort of silly conduct".
Sunshine Coast district Superintendent Ben Hanbidge said outside court that at the time of his arrest Symes had told police he was using his skateboard because he was "too drunk to drive".
Supt Hanbidge said it happened near where a young French tourist suffered fatal head injuries while skateboarding down a steep hill last December.
but will try and make it.
& Fuck, It's so Smooth... 
