A man with a 'terrible' criminal history will spend more time in jail after admitting to driving a stolen car away from police while unlicensed.
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Trevor Scott, 27, pleaded guilty to three charges at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, appearing via video link from custody.
The case was originally listed for a contested hearing on 15 charges but the prosecution decided to accept the defence's plea offer after an application for an adjournment was refused.
Leading Senior Constable Steve Kent requested the adjournment because the informant was unable to be at court due to a family emergency and some evidence had still not been provided.
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Defence barrister Mark Sturges opposed the application for adjournment because the informant had since September to prepare the case, provide the evidence and summon the witnesses.
He said it was becoming a question as to whether the case was being run fairly for his client.
Magistrate Letizia Torres said it was an unusual case that no witnesses had shown up to court for the contested hearing and said it was unfair to the defence to grant an adjournment.
Leading Senior Constable Kent returned to court after a short time and said the prosecution would withdraw all but three charges and the case could resolve to a plea of guilty.
Scott pleaded guilty to theft of a motor vehicle, failing to stop on police direction and driving while disqualified.
The court heard police saw Scott driving through the Grant Street and Barkly Street roundabout in Golden Point in January 2020 and he sped away when he saw police.
Leading Senior Constable Kent said Scott drove on the wrong side of the road as he approached the Peel Street and Grant Street intersection, causing other drivers to take action to avoid being hit.
Police stopped the pursuit because of the danger of Scott's driving and later arrested him at a Delacombe house.
Police found the car he was driving had been stolen earlier in a burglary in Golden Point, where two other cars had also been stolen.
Scott was an unlicensed driver at the time.
Scott is on bail for this matter but was remanded in custody for an alleged shooting in Lake Wendouree in October.
The court heard Scott was on a community corrections order at the time of the offending and had only been recently released from jail.
Defence barrister Mark Sturges said a neuropsychological report indicated Scott had a traumatic and disadvantaged childhood which had affected his brain development.
He was diagnosed with ADHD and post traumatic anxiety.
The court heard Scott had spent most of his recent years in custody.
Magistrate Letizia Torres said Scott had a 'really terrible' criminal history that included a lot of car thefts and driving away from police.
He was convicted and sentenced to three months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for six months.
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