Michael Howell is facing 36 charges, including three separate episodes of alleged dangerous driving involving police pursuits, possessing a sawn-off shotgun with ammunition and car theft.

He appeared at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Tuesday via video link to complete an application for bail.

During the first part of the bail hearing held in mid-June, police informant Senior Constable Nathan Hildebrand said the offending took place between September 11 and October 24, 2019.

The court heard Howell was allegedly seen driving stolen cars and drove dangerously to evade police when they activated their lights and sirens on three separate occasions, putting police and members of the public at risk.

Howell is also accused of smashing windows to steal from cars on a number of occasions and stealing fuel from the Ballan Golf Club shed.

Before his arrest, police allegedly found a sawn off shotgun with 23 shotgun cartridges that fit the firearm in the car.

Senior Constable Hildebrand said Howell had never had a drivers' licence and had been disqualified from obtaining one because of past driving offences.

The court heard Howell has six prior convictions of driving whilst disqualified and is facing a further six charges.

Howell also has three convictions of failing to stop on police direction and is facing further charges.

Senior Constable Hildebrand said he was concerned Howell would not comply with bail conditions as he had committed an indictable offence while on bail 14 times in the past.

He also has a history of breaching bail conditions and community corrections orders.

Defence lawyer Matt McLellan said Howell had accommodation available with his step-mother, which was more suitable than previous bail addresses with his mother who is now in drug rehabilitation and step-father who is now in custody.

Mr McLellan said exceptional circumstances for bail could be met because of a significant delay to the case due to COVID-19 as Howell would have been in custody for 13 months by the time of the committal hearing date in November.

He said the prosecution case was weak as there were issues with identification of Howell as the driver of the stolen vehicles and hence the charges relating to putting police officers at risk.

Mr McLellan said the risk of granting Howell bail could be reduced by conditions he comply with his NDIS plan for his intellectual disability, comply with his current community corrections order and reside with his step-mother.

Crown prosecutor Danielle Guesdon said Howell's alleged offending was 'persistent and consistent', while he was subject to a community corrections order he had already breached once.

She said the alleged offending occurred within months of his release from prison and after being given a second opportunity on the community corrections order.

Ms Guesdon said reports showed Howell failed to engage with Corrections Victoria and with his disability support worker in the past.

"There appears to be no conditions that will stop him re-offending, particularly driving," she said.

Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg said he did not view the prosecution case as weak and the question of delay was insignificant.

"Without a doubt in my mind the applicant is an unacceptable risk of re-offending and endangering the safety and welfare of people in the community," he said.

"He was given another opportunity to take advantage of his community corrections order and within a couple of weeks he goes on this spree and shows total disregard for people's property, for the safety of road users and for the law."

Howell was refused bail. He will return to court in November for a committal hearing.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.