Former AFP commander and Olympian Danielle Woodward disqualified from driving for six months after crashing car while drunk

Danielle Woodward is a three-time Olympian and spent nearly 40 years working in law enforcement.  (ABC News)

An Olympian and former senior Australian Federal Police officer has been disqualified from driving for six months, after she returned a blood alcohol reading nearly three times the legal limit when her car ploughed into a tree in Canberra.

Danielle Anne Woodward, 59, pleaded guilty to a drink driving charge in the ACT Magistrates Court in March.

The court heard Ms Woodward recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.148 after crashing her Mercedes-Benz into a tree on New South Wales Avenue in Barton on her way home from a work function in November 2023.

Ms Woodward was taken into custody and breath tested at Canberra’s city station, where she returned a level fractionally below the more serious level four alcohol concentration reading, which attracts a higher penalty.

She was stood down from her policing duties at the time and has since resigned from the force prematurely.

Ms Woodward’s lawyer, Michael Kukulies-Smith, told the ACT Magistrate’s Court on Monday that his client did not intend on driving home from the event and had planned to either take an Uber or walk home but left early because she was feeling unwell.

The defence argued the collision happened at slow speed while turning a corner, but the prosecution said the extensive damage to the front of her Mercedes-Benz suggested otherwise.

“This was hardly just a bump into a tree … [the car] sustained significant damage,” prosecutor Samuel Carmichael said.

When police arrived, Ms Woodward was found standing next to her car with a minor arm burn from an airbag which had gone off.

The defence said she was “frank in her submission” and had notified her superior that she crashed while having alcohol in her system, prior to being breath tested.

“She was certainly not belligerent,” Mr Kukulies-Smith said.

A police statement of facts previously tendered to the court said officers found Ms Woodward with a flushed face and sleepy, watery eyes.

No conviction for ‘one-off’ offence

The court heard Ms Woodward had been experiencing a “high level” of stress from her job and had been physically unwell in the lead up to the offence.

“Due to life stressors, she has at times resorted to alcohol, in a way she has been able to control,” Mr Carmichael said.

“The offending conduct is not only out of character … [but] her actions are usually the complete opposite. They’re usually designed to benefit and protect the community.”

Ms Woodward’s legal team asked Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker to record a non-conviction, claiming the offence was a “one off” and the media coverage of the matter attracted “an unusual degree of reputational damage”, impacting her mental health and career.

“Taken before court in such a public fashion, that renders any punishment your honour could impose,” they said.

Magistrate Walker agreed, but said a general deterrence still needed to be served as Ms Woodward was “a spectacularly high level over the legal limit”.

“What ultimately influences me … is Ms Woodward is a woman suffering from ill health,” Magistrate Walker told the court.

“It is often people of good standing in this community … who find themselves before the court for this type of offence.”

Ms Woodward’s driving licence was immediately suspended for 90 days at the time of offending.

Ms Woodward was a highly decorated police officer, having worked for the Australian Federal Police for 37 years, before rising the ranks to commander in 2022.

Her career spanned multiple jurisdictions and included overseas service in Timor Leste, and The Hague, where she worked on the response to the downing of MH17 over Ukraine.

In 2002, she received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and was later awarded with the Australian Police Medal in the Australia Day honours in 2020.

She was also a triple Olympian in slalom canoeing, having won a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.