Timothy Leonard Gordon Farmer convicted of drink-driving without a licence two months after prison release

An Albany man with an extensive criminal record was caught drink-driving without a licence weeks after he was released from prison. Timothy Leonard Gordon Farmer, 44, appeared in Albany Magistrates Court last Thursday, pleading guilty to to exceeding 0.08 and no authority to drive. It was his sixth no authority to drive offence. In 2008, when he was sent to prison for an unrelated offence, it was revealed Farmer had more than 150 convictions on his record. In court on Thursday, police prosecutor Sgt Dave Loverock said Farmer was pulled over by police on York Street and breath-tested about 8am on January 1. He recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.113. Defence lawyer Kyah Langdon told the court her client had been out celebrating New Year’s Eve the previous night. “He parked his car at a friend’s (house) and they went to the pub and nightclub,” she said. He returned to his friend’s house about 1.30am and “slept for a few hours”, she said. He thought he would be fine to drive in the morning, Ms Langdon said. She said Farmer had relapsed into alcohol use. However he had since “handed his car keys to his mother” and was trying to sell the vehicle to avoid the temptation to drive, she told the court. Sgt Loverock said Farmer committed the offences two months after he was released from prison, having served a nine-month jail term for no authority to drive and an associated vehicle theft. “A term of imprisonment is appropriate,“ he said. Magistrate Dianne Scaddan said Farmer needed to change his attitude. “You’re at the point where you don’t want to keep going to jail . . . it’s just a revolving door,” she said. Ms Scaddan gave to a seven-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was disqualified from driving for 26 months and fined $1800. “This is an opportunity you’ll have to grasp with both hands,” Ms Scaddan said.