NSW: Mimi Macpherson says her 2nd drink drive bust is a warning

AAP General News (Australia)
04-18-2001
NSW: Mimi Macpherson says her 2nd drink drive bust is a warning

By Jim Baynes

SYDNEY, April 18 AAP - Environmentalist and TV personality Mimi Macpherson today said
she hoped she stood as a warning to young people after being fined $550 and banned from
the road for nine months for drink driving.

It was her second drink driving conviction.

Macpherson, 33, pleaded guilty in Waverley Local Court to driving with a mid-range
alcohol reading of 0.095 after a dinner in a Rose Bay restaurant, in Sydney's eastern
suburbs, on March 11.

In 1995 Macpherson, the younger sister of supermodel Elle Macpherson and who made a
name with whale watching tours, was convicted of high-range drink driving in a Queensland
carpark with a reading of 0.152.

In the latest incident, Macpherson drank three glasses of wine and one pre-dinner drink
before "an upset stomach" forced her to leave the restaurant early, her barrister Michael
Marx told the court.

Shortly after, police spotted Macpherson driving out of the Lyne Park carpark in the
wrong direction and pulled her over.

Police said Macpherson failed to produce her licence after rummaging through her hand-bag
three times, and took more than five attempts to give a sufficient air sample for the
breath test.

This was a result of her upset stomach, Mr Marx said.

The court was told that Macpherson had contributed an "extraordinary amount" to the
community, and a number of references - many from environmental organisations - were tabled
before magistrate Geoff Bradd.

"In the last ten years (she) would have contributed something in the range of $250,000
in fundraising and volunteer work," Mr Marx said.

"She's so highly thought of by environmental groups in Australia ... she doesn't want
the matter to jeopardise that."

Magistrate Bradd agreed that Macpherson was "a person of otherwise good character".

Outside the court with her mother Frances Gow, Macpherson, conservatively dressed in
an understated cream shift with a knee-length jacket, said her conviction should serve
as a warning to others.

"I didn't think that I had drunk that much alcohol but it was an error of judgment
and I take full responsibility for it," she said.

"Drink driving is a very serious thing. I hope maybe it serves as a warning to other
people, especially young people, that they should be very careful about the amount of
alcohol they consume."

Macpherson, who has won business awards for her whale watching tours, conceded that
many people would be disappointed by her action and said her volunteer work would suffer
without her car.

"I do a lot of work for people ... and I'm not paid for it," she said.

"I do hundreds of hours of work and really I can't get to those appointments if I don't
have my vehicle."

AAP jwb/jjs/hu/sb

KEYWORD: MACPHERSON NIGHTLEAD

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