Christopher Murray Stodart Chambers was more than six times over the limit - later recording a shocking blood alcohol reading of 0.326 - when he ran a give way sign and caused a crash at Nelson Bay in the middle of the afternoon on a day in September. He then apologised to those in the other car and left the scene.
But on Monday, Chambers, 47, of Nelson Bay, narrowly avoided a jail term in Raymond Terrace Local Court after a magistrate found there was a connection between his underlying anxiety and alcohol abuse disorder and his decision to get behind the wheel of his Mercedes while he was so drunk as to be almost comatose. Magistrate Ian Cheetham accepted the submissions made by Chambers's solicitor, Chris Bennett, and said notwithstanding the "alarming" blood alcohol reading, the community was better served if Chambers continued his treatment and rehabilitation in the community rather than in jail.
Chambers, who was physically shaking as he stood in court on Monday and learned his fate, was placed on a 13-month intensive corrections order with a condition that he undertake 175 hours of community service.
According to a statement of police facts, a woman was driving a Hyundai Accent west on Shoal Bay Road at Nelson Bay with two passengers in her car about 3.50pm on September 22 last year when Chambers ran a give way sign on Hardy Street and collided with the front of her vehicle.
The impact forced the Hyundai onto the grass verge on the other side of the road.
Chambers stopped briefly after the crash, told the woman "I'm sorry" and then drove from the scene.
The 47-year-old later told a psychiatrist that he had made sure everyone in the other car was uninjured before leaving the scene.
Police went to nearby Achilles Street where they arrested Chambers and he told them: "I'm sorry, I'll pay for everything".
He recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.326 and was charged with high-range drink driving.
Mr Bennett conceded the alcohol reading and crash meant the matter clearly crossed the threshold into "full-time" imprisonment. But he said due to Chambers diagnosis and the progress he had made since the crash, which included remaining abstinent and undergoing counselling, the community would be better served if he was spared a jail term.
