Prabhjot Singh, 41, of the Melbourne suburb of Berwick, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to driving while disqualified and driving an unregistered vehicle.
Leading Senior Constable Deryn Boote told the court when Singh was stopped while driving on Doyles Rd at Shepparton on June 9 he showed them a Queensland driver’s licence and told them he had “never held a licence in Victoria”.
The court was told Singh had held a Victorian licence, and it had been cancelled in September 2023 for two years for refusing a breath test.
When police put that to him at the time, Singh lied and said it was a different person with the same name who had a Victorian licence previously.
His Queensland licence also expired in April.
The vehicle he was driving was unregistered, and was impounded for 30 days.
Singh’s defence counsel told the court her client “got scared” when pulled over by police “because he had obtained his Queensland licence before the Victorian one”.
She said he was using a Queensland driver’s licence because he had been a truck driver and he wanted to move to Queensland to keep working.
However, the court heard the father-of-two had not moved and was still living in Melbourne.
Singh’s defence counsel also said the Victorian licence disqualification was for refusing a breath test, and although her client had had problems with alcohol previously, he had not consumed alcohol since then.
In fining Singh $800, magistrate Amina Bhai said she was only sentencing on the two charges for which Singh faced the court.
“I’m not entirely sure you completely disregarded the order that you not drive, but I suspect you did,” she said.
No conviction was recorded by the court.
