Redland Mayor Karen Williams pleads guilty to drink driving charges


Redland Mayor Karen Williams has been sentenced to 80 hours of community service and had her licence disqualified for six months after pleading guilty to drink driving.

The south-east Queensland Mayor appeared in Cleveland Magistrates Court this morning, charged with being more than three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit when she crashed her car on June 23.

The court heard Ms Williams crossed four lanes of traffic before she left the road, entered a ditch and struck a tree in the single-vehicle incident at the intersection of Queens and Wellington Streets in Cleveland.

Her blood alcohol concentration was 0.177, more than three times the limit.

She was disqualified from driving for six months and had no conviction recorded.

In sentencing, Magistrate Deborah Vasta said there would be “a small number of very hurt people who will never forgive” the Mayor.

A small group of protesters, pushing for the mayor’s resignation, gathered outside court this morning.

A group of protesters outside Karen Williams’s court proceeding at Cleveland Court.(ABC News: Jemima Burt)

One hundred and seventy-two people have died on Queensland’s road this year — the highest toll in 30 years.

More to come.


Click Here For This Articles Original Source.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *