Sturt David Chettle in court for driving without a licence

A magistrate has blasted a BMW driver trying to talk his way out of a disqualification after he didn’t notice he’d clocked up so many speeding fines his licence had been suspended.

A man who said he didn’t realise he’d clocked up enough speeding fines to lose his licence lost his composure in a Bundaberg courtroom.

Sturt David Chettle appeared in Bundaberg Magistrates Court where he faced one count of driving without a licence (demerit points).

At 3.49pm on March 2, 2022, Chettle was caught by police driving his BMW on Captain Cook Drive, Seventeen Seventy.

Police prosecutor Tina Bland told the court that when Chettle was pulled over, he said he wasn’t aware his licence was suspended.

But when Chettle fronted court and realised his licence would be disqualified for six months as a consequence of the offending, he was less than impressed.

“That's going to uproot my entire life,” he told the court.

Acting magistrate Patrick Murphy said it was what he had to do.

“Wow,” Chettle replied. “I'm out of a job”.

Chettle told the court he had made “one single slip-up”.

A discussion then ensued regarding Chettle‘s speeding fines.

“If you don't track your points and find out that you’ve got a demerit point suspension, well, that’s your fault. It all comes back to you,” Mr Murphy said.

“How do I even track my points?” Chettle asked the magistrate, to which Mr Murphy replied: “Like everybody else, they have an address where advice is sent, in respect of points”.

Chettle said his speeding fines had been clocked up over a number of months.

“I'm trying to tell you that the law says I have to give you a six-month suspension,” Mr Murphy said.

“It doesn't matter who you are, you could be the Pope’s son, the Prime Minister’s son, you could be anybody, my hands are tied. It’s the minimum period of disqualification that I can give you and it doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, which job you’ve got.”

Chettle then asked for an adjournment, saying he would take the matter further, before asking when the suspension starts.

Mr Murphy replied it would start when he pleaded guilty, to which Chettle replied “when I plead guilty?”

“If you plead guilty,” Mr Murphy said.

Mr Murphy then offered Chettle a four-week adjournment, but the defendant had a change of heart.

“I'm better off taking the six-month suspension, there’s nowhere I can go with this,” he said.

Chettle repeated his sentiment a second time, to which Mr Murphy replied: “well why are you complaining to me then?”

“Because the judgements for what I’ve done are so unjust,” Chettle said. “That is so unfair.”

“You tell that to the State Government that makes the laws, not me,” Mr Murphy said.

Chettle said he’d accept the disqualification and not waste any more of his own or the magistrate’s time.

“It's a matter for you,” Mr Murphy said.

Sturt David Chettle appeared in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Monday where he faced one count of driving without a licence (demerit points).

Chettle said it was “disgusting” before the magistrate told him: “watch your mouth” or else he could end up “downstairs”.

“You be respectful while you're in court,” Mr Murphy said.

When Chettle was asked if he made the plea of his own free will, he said: “I guess”.

When Mr Murphy asked Chettle the routine question of whether anyone in authority had suggested to him he should plead guilty, he replied “yeah they have”.

Mr Murphy told Chettle that if it was the case, he would not accept the plea and the matter would be adjourned.

But Chettle had another change of heart.

“It's my plea, of course it is,” he said.

After further debate, Chettle said his plea was a result of his own free will.

“It's up to you Mr Chettle, I’m not spending all day with you...,” Mr Murphy remarked.

Chettle pleaded guilty, was fined $450, referred to SPER, and disqualified from driving for six months.

As he left the court he scrunched up the information sheet provided to him and threw it to the ground before walking out.