His rap sheet reads like a laundry list of driving offences: 14 drink-driving charges, pinged 15 times for driving while disqualified and nabbed countless times for driving without a licence.

He hasn’t, in fact, held a licence for more than a quarter of a century and will be near-on 80 when he’s eligible again.

Incredibly, the 68-year-old Ashmont man has been locked up more than a dozen times for his indiscretions.

He must be a slow learner.

Because this week, he was hauled up before a Wagga magistrate again after blowing 0.149 in October.

His solicitor, Max Staples, kept a commendably straight face as he told magistrate Erin Kennedy that Earle had a “very poor record”.

That very poor record clearly wasn’t enough to convince Ms Kennedy he should be sent away again.

Despite Earle’s abysmal driving record, the magistrate referred him to Community Corrections to be assessed for home detention. The decision will sit uncomfortably with many in the community.

Earle poses a clear and present danger to himself and every road user.

He has consistently shown he is unable to resist the lure of drinking and driving. Home detention would do nothing to remove the temptation and the grave risk to the community.

As such, it is incumbent upon the court to remove that risk by sending Earle to a place where he can’t pose a danger – behind bars.

It may be true that incarceration has not worked for Earle in the past, but that in itself is not an argument against locking him up.

Magistrates walk a precarious tightrope between punishing criminals and helping rehabilitate them.

Ms Kennedy’s decisions comes amid a torrid debate in Wagga about the role the court has played in the current juvenile crime wave.

Most agree the courts have been too lenient on repeat offenders.

When an offender shows they are beyond rehabilitation – at least in the short term – sentences must err on the side of public safety.

They must also be in line with community expectations. And this community would expect nothing less than Earle be sent to prison.