Jack O’Brien, 34, from Bridge Creek, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to unlicensed driving, using an unregistered vehicle, possessing cannabis and driving while disqualified.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Luke Lund told the court police found O’Brien was driving unlicensed when they pulled him over in an Isuzu tipper in Wyndham St, Shepparton, on January 18.
He told police he had some cannabis in the vehicle and it was found in a bag in the truck tray.
The court also heard that in a separate incident on June 19, 2020, police caught O’Brien driving without a licence in Bridgewater.
The registration of the car he was driving had expired in 2017.
He told police at the time he had just bought the car and hadn’t changed over the registration yet and that he thought he had served a time of suspension on his licence and believed it was valid again, Sen Constable Lund said.
O’Brien’s solicitor Ian Michaelson told the court his client had been a concreter for 10 years and was working at the school and living in a motel in Shepparton at the time of the Shepparton offence.
Mr Michaelson said O’Brien was helping a friend move house when he was pulled over by police.
“He obviously shouldn’t have been driving,” Mr Michaelson said.
“When his friend asked him for a hand, he should have said no.”
In fining O’Brien $1500, magistrate David Faram said had taken into account what he described as “pretty blatant” offending.
O’Brien was also disqualified from driving for a further three months.
