ID :
102035
Sat, 01/23/2010 - 18:02
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/102035
The shortlink copeid
Williamson causes trouble in Tamworth
He may be country music royalty but John Williamson can still get on the wrong side
of the law - even in Australia's country music capital.
Williamson, in Tamworth for the annual country music festival, raised the ire of
police on Saturday morning for remaining in the back of his ute unrestrained after a
cavalcade along the main street of the town.
Alongside him was a friend, who was also unrestrained.
The driver of the ute, believed to be Williamson's partner Meg Doyle, copped a $250
fine and received three demerit points.
"There was three of us, we could not all fit in the ute," Williamson told AAP.
"I appreciate that it is illegal but it just did not occur to us, half a kilometre
from the end of the parade, that we should have walked."
Williamson believed police knew who he was, and said they should have been friendlier.
"It's pretty easy to recognise me," he said.
"He (the policeman) actually asked me 'is that really your number plate - DINKUM'
and I said 'strangely enough it is'."
"I don't think it's good for Tamworth or the police," he added.
"I am not whingeing, I just think the police have got to think about the PR of the
whole thing."
Williamson suggested the police could have warned him and his companions that they
couldn't ride in the back of the ute after the parade.
Rather than a fine and the driver losing three points, Williamson said a warning
would have been sufficient.
"We were hardly going to fall out of the ute," he said.
Police issued a statement on Saturday afternoon confirming a 55-year-old woman from
Sydney was fined $253 and lost three points off her licence for having unrestrained
passengers in a prohibited part of a ute following a street parade in Tamworth.
Two men were allegedly travelling, seated and unrestrained, in the rear of the ute,
the statement said.
"Neither man was arrested or fined as a result of the alleged incident,"
Superintendent Clint Pheeney said.
"Travelling on a vehicle in the manner which is being alleged, even for a short
distance, is unlawful and dangerous,"
"One or both of the men could have easily fallen from the vehicle and onto the
roadway, suffering a serious or life-threatening injury."
of the law - even in Australia's country music capital.
Williamson, in Tamworth for the annual country music festival, raised the ire of
police on Saturday morning for remaining in the back of his ute unrestrained after a
cavalcade along the main street of the town.
Alongside him was a friend, who was also unrestrained.
The driver of the ute, believed to be Williamson's partner Meg Doyle, copped a $250
fine and received three demerit points.
"There was three of us, we could not all fit in the ute," Williamson told AAP.
"I appreciate that it is illegal but it just did not occur to us, half a kilometre
from the end of the parade, that we should have walked."
Williamson believed police knew who he was, and said they should have been friendlier.
"It's pretty easy to recognise me," he said.
"He (the policeman) actually asked me 'is that really your number plate - DINKUM'
and I said 'strangely enough it is'."
"I don't think it's good for Tamworth or the police," he added.
"I am not whingeing, I just think the police have got to think about the PR of the
whole thing."
Williamson suggested the police could have warned him and his companions that they
couldn't ride in the back of the ute after the parade.
Rather than a fine and the driver losing three points, Williamson said a warning
would have been sufficient.
"We were hardly going to fall out of the ute," he said.
Police issued a statement on Saturday afternoon confirming a 55-year-old woman from
Sydney was fined $253 and lost three points off her licence for having unrestrained
passengers in a prohibited part of a ute following a street parade in Tamworth.
Two men were allegedly travelling, seated and unrestrained, in the rear of the ute,
the statement said.
"Neither man was arrested or fined as a result of the alleged incident,"
Superintendent Clint Pheeney said.
"Travelling on a vehicle in the manner which is being alleged, even for a short
distance, is unlawful and dangerous,"
"One or both of the men could have easily fallen from the vehicle and onto the
roadway, suffering a serious or life-threatening injury."
