Fine and licence suspension follows Narrikup drunk driver’s month in coma

A 43-year-old man who spent a month in a coma after a drunken crash in Narrikup has been fined more than $1150 and had his licence suspended for eight months. Daniel Wayne Chapman did not appear in Albany Magistrate’s Court on Thursday but made an endorsed plea of guilty through lawyer Janie Gibbs. Chapman pleaded guilty to driving with an illicit drug in oral fluid or blood, exceeding 0.08, no authority to drive and using an unlicensed vehicle on a road. Police prosecutor Sgt Dave Loverock told the court Chapman was driving a Holden Commodore south on Chester Pass Road in Narrikup on March 13 when he crashed into a tree. Police officers found him at the scene “ejected” from the vehicle and he was taken to Albany Health Campus and later flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Sgt Loverock told the court Chapman had never held a driver’s licence, the car he was driving was not licensed, and the owner was not aware it had been taken. On April 28, testing results from the day of the crash found Chapman had a blood alcohol reading of 0.122 and was positive for cannabis. Ms Gibbs said Chapman had recently moved from NSW to WA for work and had some drinks before leaving work that afternoon. He had an argument with someone before leaving work, Ms Gibbs said. Chapman sustained a brain injury and was in a coma for one month after the crash.