Wednesday 6 July 2022 07:54 AM Silverchair's Daniel Johns is handed 10 month sentence over high-range drink ... trends now
Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns has dodged a jail sentence for high-range drink driving after a magistrate ruled time behind bars would be of little benefit to the 'deeply troubled' rock star.
Johns, 43, faced Raymond Terrace Local Court near Newcastle on Wednesday after pleading guilty to drink driving in the NSW Hunter region at about 10.30pm on March 23.
Johns crashed into a light commercial truck on the Pacific Highway and recorded a blood-alcohol reading 0.157 - more than three times the legal limit.
The truck driver, 51, and his female passenger, 55, were treated at the scene.
Johns was given a 10-month intensive corrections order - a court sentence of two years or less which is served in the community under the strict supervision of Community Corrections.
He was also disqualified from driving for seven months and ordered to install an alcohol-reading interlock device to his car for 24 months once he gets his licence back.
Johns' lawyer Bryan Wrench said his client was at pains to show the court how serious he had taken the charge since entering rehab and his discharge in June by remaining abstinent from alcohol.
Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns is pictured outside Raymond Terrace Courthouse in NSW with his high-profile lawyer Bryan Wrench after being handed a 10-month correction order over a high-range drink-driving car crash
Johns checked into rehab in April to address his drinking and mental health issues.
Leading up to the drink-driving incident, Johns was set to release his new music album that triggered the mental health issues he has faced since his meteoric rise to fame as a teenager, the court was told.
Mr Wrench said Johns was a very reclusive person and had been vilified by the media before he was charged with drink driving.
Johns crashed into a light commercial truck on the Pacific Highway and recorded a blood-alcohol reading 0.157 - more than three times the legal limit
His struggle with anorexia in his early 20s led to reactive arthritis that flares up under stress, and he had been self-medicating using alcohol.
'While in rehab his album hit number one but what needs to hit number one is his mental health,' Mr Wrench said.
After his partner took him to a holiday retreat to 'escape the stressors' Johns 'simply got in the car and simply drove to get away'.
Johns had driven his grey SUV out of a service station on the Pacific Highway at North Arm Cove and headed north before crashing into the truck. Both vehicles ended up on a nature strip.
Johns was given a Intensive Correction Order - a court sentence of two years or less which is served in the community under the strict supervision of Community Corrections
He was also disqualified from driving for seven months and ordered to install an alcohol-reading interlock device to his car for 24 months once he gets his licence back
Magistrate Ian Cheetham said the charge was serious but Johns' background and
