Busselton driver Rodney Phillip O’Keefe slammed for driving drunk twice in one night and ‘one drink’ excuse

A South West magistrate has slammed a driver for attempting to claim one drink caused him to be almost double the legal drink-driving limit for more than five hours. Rodney Phillip O’Keefe, 54, pleaded guilty at the Busselton Magistrates Court on Monday to charges of exceeding .05, exceeding .08 and driving without authority. On February 19 O’Keefe was pulled over by police at 7.30pm and gave a blood alcohol reading of 0.081. Despite having his licence suspended at the roadside because of his alcohol reading, O’Keefe was found driving five hours later and he once again gave a positive blood alcohol reading — this time 0.072. The father-of-three claimed he didn’t know his licence was suspended when he was initially pulled over and claimed he had only had one Jack Daniels and Coke the entire day. Magistrate Linda Keane said she took a “dim view” on the man’s actions and one-drink claims. “You drove drunk, you got caught for it and then you drove again five hours later,” she said. “Unless Mr O’Keefe is someone who never drinks and even still the idea that one drink would get him to .08, I just simply do not accept and I find he is not being honest about what he consumed. “At the very least he would have known when he was pulled over the first time he was .08 so he was well over the legal limit and yet he drove again a matter of only five hours later.” In addition to $3250 in fines for the three offences, O’Keefe’s licence was suspended for 17 months.