A Sydney man who tried to offer a NSW police officer a $1,000 bribe after he was caught drunk behind the wheel at Helensburgh is set to work off his punishment.
Van Tuy Nguyen (pictured) copped a 12-month bond for mid-range drink-driving in Wollongong court on Tuesday, however Magistrate Susan McGowan adjourned proceedings for the bribe offence to get Nguyen assessed for his suitability to do unpaid community work.
"It wasn't a suitcase [of money] or a brown paper bag filled with tens of thousands of dollars....but there's a need for general deterrence," she said.
"Courts and the community must take a stand against this type of behaviour."
Court documents said police initially pulled Nguyen's white Hyundai iLoad van over on the Princess Highway for being unregistered, however immediately noticed Nguyen's eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his speech was slurred, prompting them to breath test him, which returned a positive result.
Nguyen was then captured on the in-car video repeatedly offering Senior Constable Damien Bush $1,000 on the afternoon of July 29 to "let me go", despite being warned his actions were being recorded on camera.
At one stage, Nguyen removed a large number of notes from his wallet and said "this is $1,000, take it".
Nguyen was arrested and taken to Helensburgh Police Station where a subsequent breath analysis returned an alcohol reading of 0.081.
Nguyen told the officers he had drunk 5-6 bottles of VB 24 hours earlier and had consumed one beer at a work site at Shell Cove around noon, without eating.
In court on Tuesday, defence barrister Melissa Humphreys said Nguyen earned a "modest" income working six days a week and supported his partner, her children and his mother and sister.
Regarding the bribe, Ms Humphreys said Nguyen's decision-making at the time was affected by his alcohol intake.
"He accepts by his plea they are actions he should not have engaged in and are criminal actions."
The matter will return to court on November 26.
