A driver was found lying on the ground in a Tuggeranong shopping centre car park after smashing into parked vehicles during a "bizarre" incident he was too drunk to remember.
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Christopher Seymour, 42, was fined $1600 and placed on a 12-month good behaviour order when he appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court for sentence on Monday.
Court documents reveal police were called to the South.Point mall on February 2, following reports of a red Holden Cruze "colliding with several other vehicles".
When officers arrived, a security guard pointed out Seymour, who was by then on the floor beside this car, as the driver.
The 42-year-old Chisholm man, who worked in IT for the Department of Defence until recently, was arrested after refusing to do a breath test.
When he later underwent an analysis at the Tuggeranong Police Station, the results revealed an alcohol reading more than four times the legal limit to drive.
The following week, officers obtained CCTV footage of the incident.
According to court documents, the video shows the Cruze hitting a stationary motorbike and shunting it into a parked Honda Civic.
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Seymour was later charged, and he pleaded guilty in July to allegations of drink-driving and refusing to undergo a screening test.
When he appeared in court for sentence on Monday, he also admitted a property damage charge laid over the same incident.
The 42-year-old's lawyer, Carley Hitchins, said he was a man of otherwise good character.
She said this made his offending all the more "bizarre".
Ms Hitchins told the court Seymour had struggled with alcohol addiction at times, and he accepted responsibility for this incident even though he could not recall it.
She detailed a number of positive steps he had taken since the day in question, saying he "works hard to manage his abstinence".
"I am told by Mr Seymour that this will not happen again, and that he feels deep shame and remorse for his offending behaviour," Ms Hitchins told the court.
Magistrate Robert Cook said Seymour's drink-driving was aggravated by the fact he had collided with "numerous parked vehicles".
But he said the offending was not so serious that a jail sentence was the only option, adding that material before the court showed people held Seymour in high regard.
Mr Cook ultimately imposed the fines and good behaviour order, while also disqualifying Seymour from driving for eight months.
The magistrate further ordered that Seymour give the owner of the damaged Honda Civic $850 to cover the excess that man had paid his insurance company for repairs.
The court heard Seymour, who hoped to return to the workforce next year, had been unemployed since leaving his job in the public service because "he did not enjoy it".
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