General News
20 February, 2023
Maryborough man warned further offending will lead to licence loss
A Maryborough man caught doing burnouts has been warned that further offending will see him lose his licence. The accused represented himself and pleaded guilty when he fronted the Maryborough Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, charged with...
A Maryborough man caught doing burnouts has been warned that further offending will see him lose his licence.
The accused represented himself and pleaded guilty when he fronted the Maryborough Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, charged with deliberately losing traction while driving.
The court heard that on November 12 last year at around 10.30 am, the accused was seen driving a white Holden Commodore stationwagon on Scent Farm Road, Mount Hooghly.
A P plate driver at the time of the alleged offending, the court heard the accused drove a short distance past a residential address before beginning to do burnouts in the vicinity of Stevens Lane.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Peter Clarke told the court the accused was deliberately losing traction for about five minutes, bursting a tyre in the process.
The court heard two witnesses attended the scene and observed the accused replacing the burst tyre with a spare. One of the witnesses asked the accused why he was doing burnouts, to which the accused said he meant no disrespect.
Police located the accused’s vehicle later in the day and took photographs of it, including the burst tyre.
On November 16 police attended the accused’s home, where the vehicle in question was stripped of parts in the driveway, and interviewed him.
The accused admitted to police that he was driving the vehicle at the time of offending but denied doing burnouts, telling police he was driving normally and then got a flat tyre, the court heard.
When asked about the shredded tyre, the accused told police that he’d blown the tyre beforehand at a legal burnout pad.
It was revealed to the court that the accused had previously been fined $2000 and lost his licence for 18 months due to a charge of driving at a dangerous speed.
Magistrate Russell Kelly said it looked as though the accused did not value his licence.
“You’ve done this before and lost your licence for 18 months — you’re risking that and your job every time you drive like an idiot,” he said.
“Everybody has heard people like you — while we’re lying in bed at night we hear this car doing burnouts in the distance.
“Everyone hears it and everyone thinks ‘where are the police? Why don’t they get these guys, they shouldn’t have their licence’.
“Now you come along and say you’re really sorry and your licence is important to you.”
Representing himself, the accused asked the court not to interfere with his licence as he needed it to get to and from his place of employment and to see his son.
Magistrate Kelly placed the accused on a 12 month good behaviour bond with the condition the accused make a $500 donation to the court fund.
“Any breach of this undertaking is to be brought back before me,” Magistrate Kelly said.
“Prove to me and everybody else that your licence is important to you. Protect it.”