Beirut saga linked to appeal by former 60 Minutes producer
Lawyer successfully links Beirut saga as contributing to driving charges for former producer.
- Published by David Knox
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A lawyer for a former 60 Minutes producer has linked her drink driving charge to pressures related to the show’s troubled Beirut saga.
A judge dismissed a low-level charge against former Nine producer Rebecca Le Tourneau in an appeal in Downing District Court yesterday.
Le Tourneau received a $750 fine and three months’ disqualification after pleaded guilty to low-range drink-driving in an unregistered car in Glebe on June 9.
It followed reports of alleged erratic behaviour on a Qantas flight in April. She parted ways with Nine in July.
The Daily Telegraph reports her barrister William Barber argued, “This case received a great deal of press. (60 Minutes) had just gone through the aborted abduction event and as a result of that she was relieved of her position and no longer works at Channel Nine.”
He said she had a “couple of celebratory drinks” after completing a job when she was pulled over by police.
District Court Judge Andrew Scotting accepted the need to drive to work as her family’s “bread winner and dismissed the charge on the condition that she enter into an 18-month good behaviour bond.
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5 Responses
How do you think the Police feel! arrest these people breaking the law only to see then get off with a slap on the wrist
About the same as anybody else feels when they’re doing their job but finds their work being over-ridden/dismissed by decisions made by others? Don’t see why police should be given any special consideration or sympathy in that respect.
(Especially since my local ones have trouble dealing with immobile inanimate objects of the unroadworthy kind without several fact-finding missions by multiple officers and the gentle application of a bit of political pressure from above…)
Besides, the forces in general seem to be happy to promote the wildly inconsistant penalties handed down for drink/unlicenced driving by highlighting them on various TV shows.
No wonder people think the law is a joke, I bet if that were you, me or Joe Doe down the road, there would be no such dismissal of charges.
How true, and how many could afford thousands of $$$$$ per hour/day for a barrister to defend a drunk driving charge? “District Court Judge Andrew Scotting accepted the need to drive to work” – me thinks 3 months of taxis would have been much cheaper than a barrister.
As someone who lost his licence for speeding here in Melbourne years ago, it was drilled into me that I was an idiot and that the magistrate has no choice but to give you a mandatory suspension…. despite me being on afternoon shift for my job….. complete joke!