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One of the country’s greatest batsmen was both foolish and reckless when he drove after sharing a few glasses of wine with friends on Easter Sunday, his lawyer has said.
David Warner returned a positive result for alcohol after he stopped short of a roadside test in Sydney’s east on April 5, police said.
When he was taken to Maroubra Police Station for a secondary test, the 39-year-old allegedly blew 0.104 – more than double the legal blood alcohol limit.
The former Australian Test opener and current Sydney Thunder Big Bash captain was charged with mid-range drink driving.
He was not required to appear in Waverley Local Court on Thursday when his matter was first mentioned and quickly adjourned.
Warner has not yet entered a plea but his lawyer Bobby Hill foreshadowed a guilty plea at a later date when speaking outside court.
The lawyer acting for David Warner (pictured with wife Candice) has described the cricketer as reckless and foolish as his drink-driving charge was mentioned in a Sydney court on Thursday
Warner allegedly blew more than twice the legal limit when he was stopped by police near his Maroubra home on April 5
‘He knows what he did was wrong,’ Hill said.
‘He accepts that was a reckless decision, a foolish decision to get in his car instead of taking an Uber.’
The Fox Cricket commentator had enjoyed three glasses of wine at a friend’s apartment before making that decision, Mr Hill said.
‘It’s not a crime to have a glass of wine on the day of the lord’s resurrection. In fact, some would consider that completely appropriate,’ he told reporters.
‘His crime is, as I said, choosing a foolish plan A instead of a plan B.’
Mr Hill said Warner’s last drink had been 11 minutes before he was pulled over by police, who are accused of taking 52 minutes to administer the second breathalyser.
The cricket star is remorseful, which is why he will ask for leniency but will expect to be punished as any other NSW citizen would be, Mr Hill explained.
‘This case before the court is a reminder to everyone in the public about the dangers of self-assessments,’ he said.
The charge has thrown Warner’s captaincy of the Sydney Thunder Big Bash League team into doubt
The 39-year-old former Test star had his last drink just 11 minutes before he was breathalysed, his lawyer has revealed
‘I know David is looking forward to putting this matter behind him and focusing his efforts on recontributing to those people in the community’.
The charge has cast doubt on his Thunder captaincy.
‘The allegations are of course concerning and we take them very seriously,’ Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon said after his arrest.
‘At Cricket NSW, we are strong advocates for safe driving, not drink-driving.’
Warne was arrested while he was on an Easter trip home from the subcontinent, where he captained the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League.
He returned to Pakistan after being charged to resume the T20 tournament, where he averaged an impressive 51.2 with the bat.
Warner was a swashbuckling opening batsman and aggressive run-scorer for the national side until his retirement from Test cricket in 2024.
He scored 8786 runs at an average of more than 44 across his 112 Tests, with a career-high score of 335 not out against Pakistan.
But Warner created headlines for the wrong reasons when he was one of three Australian players suspended after a 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa that shook the cricketing world.
A Cricket Australia investigation found Warner, who was vice-captain at the time, masterminded a plan to alter the condition of the match ball with sandpaper and enlisted rookie batsman Cameron Bancroft to carry it out.
Warner was banned from international and domestic cricket for 12 months and made permanently ineligible for team leadership positions. Warner’s matter will return to court on June 24.
