Young man who ‘lives and breathes cars’ pleads guilty to dangerous driving and evasion, fined thousands

A young car enthusiast has been fined nearly $9000 and disqualified from driving after he “freaked out” and fled from police in Port Douglas when they turned on their lights and sirens.

Cairns Acting Magistrate Jon Ide said the penalty for evasion was “significant”, in imposing fines of $8965 on a young man who sped away from police in Port Douglas.

A young “car enthusiast” who panicked and sped away from police in Port Douglas has been fined almost $9000 and disqualified from driving for two years.

The 20-year-old yard operations worker who was a teenager at the time, pleaded guilty in Cairns Magistrates court to seven charges, including evasion, dangerous driving, driving a defective vehicle, driving a high-powered vehicle at night in contravention of licence restrictions and possession of cannabis.

The court was told police turned on their lights and sirens when they saw the young man’s car on the evening of September 15, 2024 in Port Douglas.

He sped away, overtaking a vehicle and “recklessly swerved onto the incorrect side of the road”, forcing an oncoming vehicle to take evasive action to avoid a collision, the court was told.

The man said he “panicked” when he saw police turn on their lights and sirens when he was driving a car outside the hours he was permitted.

Police stopped following, but found and questioned him the next day.

Defence solicitor Tom Eckersley told the court his client was a hardworking, “kind” and quiet young man with a passion for cars, who made a poor split-second decision.

He said Laupu was catching up with a “fellow car enthusiast” in Port Douglas that day and had “panicked” when he heard the police sirens.

“He lives, breathes cars and has been involved with cars heavily since he was 15 … he tinkers with them, fixes, repairs and spends all of his spare time working on his cars and friends’ cars,” Mr Eckersley told the court.

“He buys old wrecks and buys used cars, does them up and tries to sell them as sideline. If he’s not at work, he is working on cars.”

Mr Eckersley said the man was well regarded at his work and supported by friends and family in the court, and hoped to one day start his own mechanical business.

Acting Magistrate Jon Ide did not record convictions against the man, taking into account his young age, remorse and hopes to one day open a mechanical business.

Acting Magistrate Jon Ide told the man the penalties for evasion were high, with a mandatory minimum of 50 days in prison or an $8065 fine.

“You probably didn’t realise at the time what sort of trouble you’d land yourself in when the police did pull you over because the penalty for evading police – what could be called a police chase – are very significant.” Mr Ide said.

He fined him a total of $8965 and disqualified him from driving for two years.

Acting Magistrate Ide did not record the convictions, taking into account the man’s young age, particulars and guilty plea.

Originally published as Young man who ‘lives and breathes cars’ pleads guilty to dangerous driving and evasion, fined thousands