Drug Driving Despite a Four-Page Traffic Record: No Conviction

Result at a glance

• Charge: Drive with a prescribed illicit drug present in oral fluid (s111(1) Road Transport Act 2013).
• Plea: Guilty.
• The difficulty: A traffic record running to four pages of infringements.
• Court: Liverpool Local Court.
• Outcome: 12-month conditional release order without conviction. No conviction, no fine, no licence disqualification.

The charge

Our client pleaded guilty at Liverpool Local Court to driving with a prescribed illicit drug present in oral fluid, under s111(1) of the Road Transport Act 2013. The offence does not require proof that the person was affected by the drug. It requires proof that a prescribed illicit drug was present in the person's oral fluid, blood or urine while they were driving. The maximum penalty is 20 penalty units for a first offence, or 30 penalty units for a second or subsequent offence. In dollar terms, that is $2,200 or $3,300, because a penalty unit in NSW is currently $110. The issue at sentence was whether the Court would record a conviction, impose a fine, and disqualify our client from driving. The Court did none of those things.

The traffic record

The difficult part of the case was our client's traffic history. The record ran for four pages of infringements. That made the sentence harder. In drug driving matters, a person with a short or clean record is in a very different position from someone who comes before the Court with a long infringement history. A poor record can affect how the Court views deterrence, road safety and the need for a meaningful penalty. The Court still has to sentence for the offence before it, but the record is part of the background, and it can make a no-conviction outcome harder to obtain.

The licence consequence

Drug driving matters often turn on licence impact. For a first offence, the automatic disqualification is 6 months, which the Court can reduce to a minimum of 3 months. That is the usual range if a conviction is recorded. A no-conviction order changes the practical position: if the Court deals with the matter without conviction, the client can avoid the fine and the disqualification that would otherwise follow. That was the result sought. It was not automatic. The plea dealt with the offence; the sentence still had to be argued.

The sentence material

We made submissions from the bar table and tendered subjective material on sentence. That material mattered because the Court needed a basis to deal with the offence without conviction despite the traffic history. There was little value in pretending a four-page infringement history was not a problem. The question was whether, despite that history, the purposes of sentence could still be met without recording a conviction. Those purposes include punishment, deterrence, protection of the community, rehabilitation and accountability. For drug driving, general deterrence and road safety are usually important, but the Court still has discretion. It can consider the plea, the person's circumstances, the nature of the current offence, the traffic record, and the material placed before it.

The order

The Court imposed a conditional release order, a court-supervised good behaviour order, for 12 months without conviction. That meant no conviction, no fine, no licence disqualification, and a 12-month good behaviour bond. The order still has conditions: our client must be of good behaviour for 12 months, and a breach can bring the matter back before the Court. Despite a four-page traffic record, our client avoided a conviction, avoided a fine, and kept his licence.

Why the result mattered

This was a strong result because of the record. Drug driving is often dealt with by fine and disqualification. Where the traffic record is poor, the argument for the minimum outcome becomes harder, and where the record runs for multiple pages, a no-conviction order is harder again. The Court was persuaded that a 12-month conditional release order without conviction was appropriate, which preserved our client's licence and avoided the consequences that follow a recorded conviction.

What this case shows

A guilty plea to drug driving does not always mean a conviction will be recorded, but the result depends on the facts. The Court will consider the offence, the traffic record, the plea, the subjective material, the need for deterrence, and the risk to the community. A poor record can make the task much harder. Here, despite four pages of infringements, the Court imposed a 12-month conditional release order without conviction. A different record can change the outcome.

Charged with drug driving?

Even with a poor traffic record, how the sentence is argued can decide whether a conviction is recorded and whether you keep your licence. If you've been charged with drug driving anywhere in Sydney, call JBP Law on 1800 527 529 or book a case review. We're based in Parramatta and appear in courts across Sydney and NSW, including Liverpool.

This case study is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Each criminal matter depends on its own facts, evidence, and personal circumstances. Past outcomes are not indicative of future results.