Drink driver escapes jail time after head-on smash that left two women trapped in a car within centimetres the Brisbane River Car nearly into the river (off Coronation Drive) just down from the Regatta Hotel at 6.35pm on December 15. Picture: Chris Rutherford Source: Supplied A ROOFER who got on the tiles at a work Christmas party and then got in his car - smashing head-on with a car that came centimetres from plunging into the Brisbane River off Coronation Drive - has escaped jail time. Justin James Cooney, 34, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court to driving with a blood alcohol reading of 0.204 per cent, dangerous operation of his car, wilful damage and for obstructing police during an afternoon he would probably rather forget on December 15 last year. Prosecutor Senior-Sergeant John Lane said Cooney was celebrating a work Christmas party at the Regatta Hotel in Toowong when he walked into a cold room, "urinated and defecated" on a number of products and caused $931 worth of damage. He said Cooney left the bottle shop at the Regatta Hotel in his ute, narrowly missing parked cars, before speeding out onto Sylvan Rd. Sen-Sgt Lane said Cooney was "driving erratically" and into on-coming traffic, narrowly missing a Brisbane City Council bus. He said Cooney's ute then smashed head-on into another car driving in the opposite direction, with the force of the impact ramming it backwards, over the bike lanes below Coronation Drive and onto the bank of the Brisbane River at 6.40pm. He said two women who were in the little red car had been fortunate only to have sustained minor injuries. A crash on Coronation Drive that left one car within centimetres of ending up in the Brisbane River with two people trapped inside with rising tide. Cooney suffered cuts to his forehead in the crash but tried to run from police when they took him to get treatment at hospital, Sen-Sgt Lane said. "The conduct of the defendant was dangerous considering the circumstances," he told the court. Defence lawyer Shane Elliott said Cooney had already written out a cheque to pay for the damage he caused at the Regatta Hotel. He said his client had also completed a traffic offenders program and was undergoing counselling in order to treat his underlying alcohol problem. He said Cooney had been exceptionally lucky that no one was injured. "He was at a Christmas function for work and obviously consumed a large amount of alcohol and things went extremely badly from there to the point where he defecated himself and made the regretful decision to drive," Mr Elliott said. A crash on Coronation Drive that left one car within centimetres of ending up in the Brisbane River with two people trapped inside. Magistrate Noel Nunan told Cooney he "really went overboard that day." He said it was incredibly fortunate no one was killed or seriously injured as a result of his behaviour. He sentenced Cooney to 12-months jail sentence wholly-suspended for 18 months in relation to driving dangerously and to an 18-month probation order for driving under the influence, obstructing police and for the wilful damage at the hotel. Mr Nunan suspended Cooney's driver's license for two years and ordered he pay $931 restitution.