Zachary Graham Corbett pleads guilty in Chinchilla Magistrates Court to ignoring ‘no entry’ sign and driving down a flooded road

A Chinchilla man claimed the justice system is ‘incredibly flawed’ after he fronted court for driving down a flooded road but decided to plead guilty after a magistrate’s stern words.

A Chinchilla man passionately argued his way into court after he was displeased with the fine police issued him after he was spotted driving down a flooded road in March last year.

Zachary Graham Corbett pleaded guilty in Chinchilla Magistrates Court to ignoring a ‘no entry’ sign and driving along a flooded road.

The defendant, who initially intended to fight the charge, admitted to the magistrate that he did ignore the ‘no entry’ sign and drive along a flooded road, but said it was only to take a photo.

“To be quite honest, I only went down there to get photos and have a look at it,” Corbett said.

“I didn’t want to leave my $30,000 car unattended, there’s been a lot of car robbings over the past couple of years, you can understand that can’t you.

Magistrate Turra told Corbett he couldn’t understand why he was fighting the charge considering he was only fined $200 with no demerit points at the time as well as the fact he actually committed the offence.

“It’s not that you’re not guilty of the offence, because everything you’re saying is guilty, but you just don’t like it,” he said.

“You just don’t go there. It says ‘do not pass’.

“The authorities put these things in place for the safety of everyone, if everyone decides to go and take photos it puts the safety of everyone in danger and diverts the attention of SES workers, police and authorities to people who sightsee.”

Police prosecutor Chris Hutchins said the law is in place to protect the community as flood waters can be particularly dangerous and unpredictable.

“You not only might lose your car, you might lose your life,” he said.

“I accept the defendant lives on that country and probably knows it better, but the rule is there, and the rule is there for everybody to abide by whether we like it or not.

“Just like how the speed might be 60 on some road, I might be able to drive that road at 90, Schumacher might be able to drive it at 200, but someone determined that the average person can only do it at 60 so we all have to do 60, that’s what the sign is for.

“And we can’t sit there saying ‘you can go through because you live here and you know the land but you can’t because you’re from Brisbane and you’re an imbecile’.

“It might seem unfair, but it’s fair because you all have the same rule.”

Magistrate Turra said if Corbett would like to continue fighting the charge, he would have to set it for a hearing for police to prove their charge which would take police off the road and divert resources to spend a day in court for this charge.

However, despite agreeing to have his matter held before a hearing, Corbett quickly changed his mind after the magistrate’s reaction to the case.

“If I get even half the reaction you gave me from the judge [in a hearing], then there’s not much point,” he said.

“I’m very disappointed with the lack of common sense here. I will plead guilty, I will pay the fine, but the judicial system here is incredibly flawed.”

Magistrate Turra ordered that Corbett was required to pay the same $200 fine initially issued by police.