A Ballarat man has been jailed after being caught driving without a licence four times in less than two months last year.
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Derek Ivens, 40, pleaded guilty to four charges of unlicensed driving in January to March 2018 when he appeared in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Gregory Robinson said Ivens showed "an arrogance that no one else in the community can afford for themselves".
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Clint Prebble told the court on January 14 at 8pm, Ivens was driving a Holden sedan along York Street when he was intercepted by police. The 40-year-old told police he did not hold a current licence.
Only 55 minutes later, Ivens was spotted again in the same vehicle driving at the corner of York and Richard streets.
Police then seized his keys to prevent any further driving.
The guilty man was also stopped by police and found to be driving without a licence on February 17 and March 10 last year.
His defence lawyer David Tamanika told the court his client had three previous convictions for unlicensed driving dating as far back as 1994, but that Ivens didn't have a "heinous prior history".
Mr Tamanika said his client had completed a driving education course 20 years ago, but the completion certificate had been lost, and now each time he went to re-apply for his licence he couldn't afford to undertake the necessary course again.
But magistrate Robinson disagreed with the defence lawyer's submission that only a financial penalty should be imposed on Ivens, saying the public needed to see the "law is applied fairly"; "this is complete disobedience to the law," he said and sentenced him to a week's jail.
In a separate case, Queensland-resident Adam James Hicks also appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to more than nine charges from 2012, including unlicensed driving and drug driving.
Leading Senior Constable Prebble told the court Hicks had been intercepted by police on May 2 at 11pm in Delacombe and admitted to unlicensed driving, telling police at the time he had "no-one else" to transport him.
Defence lawyer Mr Tamanika said his client Hicks "did make some very poor lifestyle choices" and was living in his car during that period.
Magistrate Robinson said it was clear Hicks had a "difficult personal situation".
He was fined $2000.
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