Brett Veal, 32, of Shepparton pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to drink-driving and driving an unregistered vehicle.
Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Chris Cole said Veal reversed his ute over a front tap at his Shepparton house, bursting the water pipe.
He then drove back into the driveway of the house.
The court was told Veal got in the vehicle after a dispute with his housemate shortly before 12.10am on May 2.
When police arrived soon after, Veal admitted to them he drove the ute from the driveway on to the grass at his house, and then back on to the driveway, Leading Sen Constable Cole said.
When he was breath-tested 50 minutes after the incident, Veal recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.137.
The vehicle was impounded for 30 days at a cost of $1340, and Veal was immediately banned from driving.
The court heard Veal told police at the time he had been drinking from about 7.30pm and had consumed 12 or 13 Jack Daniel’s drinks.
Representing himself in court, Veal said his housemate had kicked him out of the house that night, and he had just “moved my ute forward” to allow him to pick up a bag to go elsewhere.
He said the tyre marks on the front lawn were from where his housemate had rolled a vehicle a month earlier.
Veal told the court he was “in the middle of getting a roadworthy” for the vehicle.
He was fined $300 and his driver’s licence was cancelled for 13 months, with the cancellation backdated to when the incident occurred.
37°C