A Ballarat East man who had been banned from driving for two years was found riding an unregistered and unroadworthy motorcycle in a busy Ballarat thoroughfare, a court has heard.
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The Ballarat Magistrates' Court heard Christopher Cray-Robinson, of Hopetoun Street, was not wearing a helmet when police attempted to intercept him on Victoria Street in February.
After discovering the accused had been disqualified from driving for drink driving matters in July 2015 and deeming the motorcycle unroadworthy, police told the accused the motorcycle would be impounded.
Hearing the news, the accused became abusive towards police and told them "I'm going to slit your f****** throats".
During an interview he told police he was only riding the motorcycle to get the accelerator fixed.
Cray-Robinson pleaded guilty to six offences and a breach of a community corrections order (CCO).
His lawyer, Catherine Fitzgerald, told the court there had been some compliance with the CCO, with her client completing more than half of the requirements.
For the breach of CCO magistrate Robert Kumar ordered Cray-Robinson to start it again.
He will need to complete 100 hours of community work over 12 months and undergo treatment from drug and alcohol abuse and participate in offender behaviour programs.
On all other matters Cray-Robinson was convicted and fined $1000. His licence was cancelled and he was disqualified for three months.
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Meanwhile, a 21-year-old Ballarat man was so fatigued when he pulled over to answer his phone he ended up falling asleep at the wheel and crashing his car, a court has heard.
Joshua Tiburcy also failed a preliminary roadside fluid test following the incident on Gillies Street on August 6 and refused to accompany police to undergo an evidentiary fluid test.
On Tuesday he pleaded guilty in the Ballarat Magistrates Court to the incident.
During an interview he told police he had taken ice.
Tiburcy also pleaded guilty to driving on a suspended probationary licence on January 27.
The accused's lawyer, Mike Wardell, told the court his client had learnt a lesson in how lethal drugs and driving was.
He said while Tiburcy had no ongoing issues with drugs, he had experimented with ice at a party.
Mr Wardell urged the magistrate to deal with the matter with a fine.
Magistrate Robert Kumar told Tiburcy the consequences of his actions could have been "horrendous".
He convicted and fined Tiburcy $750. His licence was also cancelled and he was disqualified from driving for six months.
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Also in court, a 41-year-old Ballarat woman with 70 pages of criminal prior convictions has been sent to prison after stealing credit cards and using them to buy alcohol, cigarettes and phone credit.
Farnaz Razavishafa was convicted and jailed for three months on Tuesday after pleading guilty to a number of dishonesty and theft matters.
The Ballarat Magistrates Court heard Razavishafa stole a purse from under a pew at a local church in April, later using the stolen credit card to buy $546 worth of alcohol, smokes and phone credit.
A month later she stole another credit card from a local restaurant employee while he worked and bought more than $400 worth of items.
The court also heard on two separate occasions she broke the windows of two houses.
The woman's lawyer, Manny Brennan, told the court his client was released from prison in February and remained homeless until May.
He said Razavishafa had schizoaffective disorder and often found herself marginalised in the community, which pushed her into drug use.
Mr Brennan said Razavishafa committed crimes to fund her on again, off again drug use.
Magistrate Robert Kumar told Razavishafa she could not keep offending.
"I have to impose a term of imprisonment, I can't see any other alternative," he said.
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The court also heard, a Bacchus Marsh man who was unlicensed, driving a stolen motorcycle and speeding by more than 30km/h while being followed by police has avoided spending more time in prison.
Scott Forbes, who spent 43 days on remand over the matters he faced in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday, pleaded guilty to a string of charges including being a prohibited person possessing a firearm.
In addition to the driving matters, the court heard police found a loaded sawn-off shot gun, ammunition, a stolen trailer and 4.95 grams of cocaine at his rural property earlier this year.
He was also found with the drug lorazapam in August.
Forbes' lawyer, Manny Brennan, told the court his client's life took a turn for the worst when his father died in August of last year.
Mr Brennan said his client began using ice.
But since being released on bail he said Forbes has taken advantage of the credit bail program to rehabilitate himself.
Magistrate Robert Kumar sentenced Forbes to a 12-month community corrections order with conditions to complete 200 hours of community work.
He was also finned $1300 and suspended from driving for two months.
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Also from the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday, a 23-year-old drug addict who was found with more than $20,000 worth of drugs will remain behind bars.
Full story here.