A local lawyer found himself on the wrong side of the court after accidentally missing his own trial date for a charge of use of a hand-held device while driving.

Eugene Johnston apologised to Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner, explaining that he’d been distracted after having to rush his daughter to see a paediatrician.

“You must have known that you were due in court,” Mr Warner told him, to which the defence lawyer responded: “There’s no disputing that — because of the severity of the incident, it was only when I was going back in my diary that I realised I had missed the date.”

Mr Johnston, 33, is disputing the June 2 charge. Mr Warner ordered him to return to Magistrates’ Court next month.