Drink driver crashed car into Shepparton oval

Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Brent O’Grady told the court Petts had been driving south along Newton St in Shepparton between 11.30pm and 11.50pm on January 18 when he locked his brakes as he approached the intersection of Balaclava Rd.

Petts slid on to the Gowrie St Primary School oval and hit the goal posts.

After the accident was called in to police by other people who heard it, police found Petts walking on Wyndham St.

Petts was breath-tested and recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.126.

The court heard he told police he had hit the gutter and then the pole.

He told police he “did not think to go to police” about the accident and that he “just wanted to get home”, Leading Sen Constable O’Grady said.

Representing himself in court, Petts said he was sorry, it was a “one-off thing”, and that he “was not a drinker”.

He also told the court he had full-time care of his two young children and was unemployed at the moment.

Magistrate Ian Watkins ordered Petts be assessed for a community corrections order before he sentences him in August.