A man who drove through fences to escape police on the Hume Freeway, and later served 49 days in prison for family violence offences, will have to wait until December to learn his fate.
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Justin Cardona faced the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to driving charges after he led police on a chase in July last year.
The court was told Cardona was stopped by police on July 12 in Ballarat, where he presented a suspended licence.
On July 15, Highway Patrol officers on the Hume Freeway near Chiltern spotted Cardona speeding, and gave chase after he failed to pull over.
He then crashed through a boundary fence and almost lost control of his vehicle in a paddock, before driving through a second fence on a dirt road to escape police.
When officers caught up with him again, he attempted to drive off on a grass verge and crashed into a fence.
He was interviewed in Gordon later that month and made full admissions.
In January, he was accused of pushing and striking his partner during an argument, before taking her keys and performing burnouts in his car in front of her house as he drove off.
Police arrested him, and he served 49 days in custody - his lawyer noted that upon release, he "flawlessly" complied with court programs.
"There was an increased level of insight and engagement, and a positive relationship with the worker," his lawyer said, adding Cardona had no prior offences for violence.
Magistrate Ron Saines said the driving charges in particular were serious.
"It appears to me there are a number of aggravating factors, twice evading police, disregarding property rights and causing damage, stock on the road, driving while suspended - he's a serial offender," he said.
"I'm going to wait and see what you do in the next six months - your licence is suspended for six months for the burnouts," he told Cardona.
"If you drive in the next six months, you will go to prison, you'll be breaching bail - it's a question of how long you spend in prison, not whether you go back."
Cardona will return to court for sentencing in December.
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