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The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald
National

Gable Tostee found naked after car crash, refuses breath test

Gable Tostee is involved in a new controversy eight years after his Kiwi Tinder date plunged to her death from his Gold Coast balcony.

The Queensland man was accused of killing New Zealand woman Warriena Wright but was found not guilty by a jury in 2016.

Tostee, now known as Eric Thomas, was naked when emergency services found him trapped in his car after a crash in October, a Brisbane court has been told.

Thomas pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court today to failing to supply both a specimen of breath and blood after the crash last year.

A charge of driving under the influence of liquor was dismissed.

The court heard that Thomas, 35, was naked in the driver's seat of a vehicle when emergency services responded to the crash on the Gold Coast's Nerang-Broadbeach Rd on October 13.

Witnesses said Thomas' vehicle had "drifted, struck a concrete barrier and cut across another car before ploughing into bushes".

The court heard he was slurring his speech, was visibly unstable and had bloodshot eyes.

He refused to give a breath sample at the scene and would not go in an ambulance to the hospital.

Police found an alcometer and empty bottles of mouthwash in the crashed vehicle.

Thomas, a carpet installer who lives with his parents on the Gold Coast, said he had consumed both alcohol and prescription medication for anxiety and insomnia.

"The next thing he recalls is he wakes up at the scene of the crash in the ambulance being spoken to by the police," his lawyer Nick Dore said.

Dore said Thomas was "exceptionally remorseful and sorry for the offending and embarrassed about it".

Thomas has convictions for the dangerous operation of a vehicle while adversely affected by alcohol in 2011 and driving under the influence in 2004, 2012 and 2015.

The magistrate ordered Thomas to serve 12 months on probation for one charge and fined him a A$350 fine for the other.

He had been banned from driving since the crash, with his licence now disqualified for a further 12 months.

Last year he was involved in a dispute with high school drama teacher Sabrina Collins.

She claims the pair met on Tinder but Thomas disputes her account.

Tostee was accused of killing New Zealand woman Warriena Wright but was found not guilty by a jury in 2016. Photo / Supplied

Collins told A Current Affair she went to police after receiving abusive text and voice messages from a female friend of Thomas, after they stopped seeing each other.

She said no action was taken by police, prompting her to make two YouTube videos featuring the abusive audio.

She said Thomas then sent her text messages suggesting she was "insane".

However, Thomas claims she has been the one stalking and harassing him and his friends.

Thomas - known at the time as Gable Tostee - was acquitted of murdering Kiwi tourist Warriena Wright who died when she fell from a 14-storey Gold Coast apartment following an argument between the pair.

Tostee and Wright met on the dating app Tinder and, after exchanging numerous messages, headed back to his apartment for the night.

During a night of drinking the pair began an argument, which was recorded by him.

Tostee then pushed Wright onto his balcony, but moments later she plunged to her death.

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