news, latest-news, Paul McGregor, Dragons, drink driving

St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor has avoided a criminal conviction in court for drink-driving five months after he was caught over the limit on the way to a Dragons training session. McGregor was handed a 12-month good behaviour bond in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday afternoon after pleading guilty to a charge of low range drink-driving. McGregor was pulled over at random breath-testing unit in North Wollongong at 8.47am one Sunday in April and returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.063. He had been on his way to Dragons training but was not due at WIN Stadium until 11am. The 48-year-old had attended an Anzac charity race day event at Kembla Grange the previous day and then consumed a few glasses of wine at home while watching two NRL matches with his family. His lawyer, Adam Bye, told the court McGregor was genuinely surprised when informed by police he was over the 0.05 limit. "He knows the RBT is regularly there, he could have avoided them if he thought he was over the limit, Mr Bye said. "But he didn't think for a second he could possibly be. "He has a deep sense of remorse for the grave error he made." The court heard McGregor was taking a prescribed medication, the type of which was not revealed in court, which had the ability to affect how quickly his body was able to break down and metabolise alcohol. Mr Bye also noted his client had been subject to "heavy scrutiny" due to his high public profile and had already paid a $10,000 fine imposed by the NRL. Magistrate Susan McGowan accepted McGregor was otherwise a person of good character and said while his traffic record did contain a few speeding matters, they were not significant. However, she warned McGregor and others who considered getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol not to play "Russian Roulette" by drinking and driving. "We know from experience that once a person is 0.05 their reaction time is reduced incredibly," she said. "You have to be particularly vigilant and I'm sure as a role model you will be from now on. "I hope it's been a wake-up call." She placed McGregor on the bond without recording a conviction. Speaking outside court, McGregor apologised for his “error of judgement” saying he hoped others would learn from his mistake.

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