A man with a staggering number of driving offences and a “flagrant disregard for road rules” has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Joshua Rundell, 22, appeared in Ballarat Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to numerous driving charges.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Lisa Schoemaker read from summary evidence a ‘chronological timeline’ of offending commencing on 3 November 2017.
Rundell was stopped by police at 12.45am driving with a learner’s permit and without a licensed driver present. His reason for driving was that, “he wanted to see his three-day-old daughter.”
On 31 January 2018, Rundell was again stopped in Ballarat East driving while suspended, and again on 4 March 2018 at 11.48am, on a learner’s driver’s permit, with two people in the car, no L plates displayed and no licensed driver accompanying him.
Senior Constable Schoemaker said the vehicle was unroadworthy and the exhaust too loud.
When asked by police why he was driving, Rundell said, “I need to get my brother’s car to a drag-racing competition.”
The court was told Rundell had numerous prior offences on his record, including a speeding offence that had caused his licence to be suspended.
Rundell’s defence lawyer said her client was not responsible for that offence because his registration plates had been stolen and attached to the offending vehicle prior to the speeding offence.
She said Rundell’s other driving offences were the result of “poor decision making” but that he had not offended during the past eight months.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz said she was “alarmed” by Rundell’s “blatant disregard for the driving rules”.
“He’s not bothering about the law, he’s just driving and repeatedly flaunting it,” she said. “This flagrant disregard for road rules is concerning.”
“Driving is a privilege, not a right and it is incumbent on me to impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of this offending,” Magistrate Mykytowycz said., and stood the matter down while Rundell undertook a Community Corrections assessment.
The magistrate then sentenced Rundell to a supervised 12-month Community Corrections Order and 100 hours of unpaid community service, saying that without a guilty plea, he would have been facing a four-month jail term.
Rundell was also directed to attend a Road Trauma Awareness course.
Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.