"I'm a bloody idiot," says NT News editor

Illustration photo

NEWS December 21, 2008

Friday night he got done for drink driving. Darwin police had the city locked down last night and Friday night, marking their omnipresence for the upcoming festive season. Ricci was one of a total of 51 reported offenders, a result described as “sickening” by road safety Superintendent Bob Rennie.

Recently, the NT News has been working closely with police in sending out a firm message to drink drivers. Not long ago, the paper published a front page with 24 faces and names of DUIs caught by police. Ricci duly notes the crude irony of having one of the publishers stand forth as a culprit.

“That only makes my offence even more unforgivable,” he writes.

The NT News editor was stopped on Tiger Brennan Drive and registered a positive breath test. Ricci writes, “It was the first time in my 28-year driving career that I’ve ever been done for anything other than a parking ticket.”

He adds, “That counts for nothing of course.”

Ricci says he and his partner had had a night out. He rung twice for a taxi, and described the wait as seeming like an eternity. Despite having only a short walk home, driving became too tempting because of the heavy rains.

“The logic and excuses at the time seemed perfectly reasonable,” he writes.

“Of course,” he adds regretfully, “they were anything but and the right happened. I got caught. […] there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can excuse it.”

Copyright Steinar Ellingsen