20 traffic offenders who lost their licence in the past 12 months
From drug driving to police chases and crashes, these incidents on Gympie region roads have put others at risk and left offenders without a licence, and some cases, in jail.
Police & Courts
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Hundreds of traffic offenders have faced Gympie Magistrates Court in 2022 to answer to their crimes on the road, but some were worse than others.
From drug driving to police chases and crashes, these incidents have put others at risk on the roads and left offenders without a licence.
Here are 20 traffic offenders that have been sentenced in Gympie court in the past 12 months:
Tamsyn Brooke Lindsay
A 21-year-old woman was sentenced for 28 offences, some of which stemmed from a high-speed smash into a business on the Bruce Highway.
Gympie Magistrates Court heard Tamsyn Brooke Lindsay was celebrating her birthday and high on meth when she evaded police on the evening of August 3, 2021.
Lindsay was driving 100km above the speed limit in a 60km/hr zone down the Bruce Highway, the court heard.
She was speeding between a service station and Gympie McDonald’s before colliding into the bollards of Gympie Mazda while attempting to turn, and smashing into other vehicles.
She pleaded guilty to 26 offences including driving uninsured, two counts of using an unregistered vehicle and five counts of driving with a disqualified licence.
She was sentenced to six months behind bars with an immediate parole release, placed on probation for 12 months probation and banned from driving for three years.
She was ordered to pay $124.50 in restitution and all property seized was forfeited.
Convictions were recorded.
Tyronne John Spencer
A 32-year-old man who did burnouts in front of police, assaulted an officer who caught him later that morning.
Tyronne John Spencer pleaded guilty to six offences, including dangerous operation of a car while affected by alcohol, obstructing police in a public place while affected and assaulting police in a public place while affected.
Spencer was approached by police to do a breath test on April 20, 2022.
With the car door still open, he revved the car, did a burnout and drove off with a screech of tyres, almost hitting police officers in the process.
At 2am that same morning, police saw Spencer’s car rapidly reversing near the Queenslander Hotel, before skidding to a stop, revving the engine and doing another burnout, the court heard.
Spencer and his car were then found on River Road, near Memorial Park, with the keys in the ignition and a can of alcohol in Spencer’s hand.
He was given a total of 80 hours community service and fined $1600 referred to SPER and disqualified from driving for 18 months.
Convictions were recorded.
Joe Daniel Johnson
A 26-year-old Salvation Army volunteer escaped custody and stole a car before he crashed it into an expensive Tesla car on the Bruce Highway.
Joe Daniel Johnson pleaded guilty to 13 offences on July 25, 2022, including escaping custody, stealing cars, committing a hit and run and evading police.
He reappeared via video link in Gympie Magistrates Court on Tuesday for sentencing and was supported by his partner in the public gallery.
Johnson stole a car between January 22 and April 23, 2022, and drove on Centro Way without a licence on April 20, the court heard.
He then escaped custody on April 22, in Araluen and stole a 2016 Toyota Hilux the same day.
Johnson ultimately crashed into a Tesla in the stolen vehicle and three people were injured.
He was sentenced to two years jail, to be released after eight months on March 24, 2023. His 65 days in pre-sentence custody were declared as time served.
Convictions were recorded.
Zane Ryan Smith
A 20-year-old apprentice working on the Bruce Highway Bypass near Gympie and twice disqualified from driving was caught hooning one day after receiving a police warning in Bundaberg.
Gympie Magistrates Court heard that Zane Ryan Smith had his licence revoked for nine months on June 29, 2021 for punching another person and doing dangerous burnouts.
Smith took an uninsured and unregistered car with plates belonging to another vehicle onto East Deep Creek Rd and started doing burnouts, the court heard.
He returned to East Deep Creek Rd to raise more smoke on July 30-31, after doing more burnouts on the same road, and while drugs were in his system near Gympie Central Shopping Centre, it heard.
Smith was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years and disqualified from driving for three years and three months.
He pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court to 21 offences, including four counts of driving while disqualified, three counts of doing burnouts, four counts of driving an unregistered vehicle.
Melissa Ann Napoline
A concerned resident called the police after an obviously drunk office worker got behind the wheel of a car in Glastonbury and drove all the way into Gympie, a distance of more than 17km on a busy country road.
Melissa Ann Napoline was more than five times over the limit at the time.
Forty minutes later Napoline was found slumped unconscious over her steering wheel in the Gympie Central Shopping Centre car park.
A blood test returned an alcohol level of 0.262 per cent.
Napoline pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court to driving while under the influence of liquor.
She was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for 13 months.
Convictions were recorded.
Dean Merlin Stapleton
A 29-year-old Gold Coast carpenter led police on a short car chase out of fear someone at the Imbil pub was going to shoot him, a Gympie court has heard.
Dean Merlin Stapleton pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on Thursday, May 5, to failing to provide an alcohol breath test twice and to speeding through a stop sign intersection in Imbil on April 6, 2022.
The court heard Stapleton sped down William’s St past the pub in Imbil before turning around and stopping momentarily beside police cars.
He then took off and sped through the Yabba Creek Road intersection, followed by police.
Stapleton halted at a dead end where he was arrested and displayed threatening behaviour before settling down, the court was told.
He was fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for six months. Convictions were recorded.
Ashley Thomas Slann
A 34-year-old Widgee man was fined after an afternoon of beers ended up with him crashing his car into a fence on the Southside.
Ashley Thomas Slann pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol in Gympie Magistrates Court on September 1, 2022.
At about 1.20pm on July 22, 2022, police were called by witnesses who saw a Landcruiser smash through a fence at the intersection of Copp Rd and Pritchard Rd, the court heard.
A witness had stopped his car to help Slann and saw him trying to reverse and calling a friend to help him out and leave the crash scene, it heard.
Police conducted a breath test where Slann blew 0.258, more than five times the general alcohol limit.
Slann was fined $1300 and disqualified from driving for 14 months.
Convictions were recorded.
Jake Adam Woods
A 34-year-old Imbil man was fined for smashing into a parked car before blowing more than four times the general alcohol limit.
Jake Adam Woods pleaded guilty to failing to provide a blood sample and driving under the influence of alcohol when he faced Gympie Magistrates Court on September 1, 2022.
Police were called to the scene of a crash at 8.15pm on August 2, 2022.
Woods’ car had smashed into a parked vehicle on the footpath, and police saw Woods still in the car seat.
He blew 0.232 and was taken to hospital, where he was asked three times to allow staff to take a blood sample, to which he refused.
He was fined $800 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Convictions were recorded.
Angela Catherine Hill
A 32-year-old woman was put on probation after driving over a roundabout and smashing into a property.
Angela Catherine Hill pleaded guilty to dangerously operating a vehicle, failing to stop and give identification at the scene of a crash and contravening a requirement to attend the police station and give identification in Gympie Magistrates Court on September 1, 2022.
Police were called to Red Hill Rd at about 12.25pm on March 20, after they received a report of a car smashing into a resident‘s fence.
The resident showed police a video he took of a car, after smashing into the fence, reversing out of the property and clipping the fence again on the way out, police prosecutor Kennedy Grills said.
Hill was put on probation for 18 months.
Convictions were recorded.
Steven Michael Clements
A Monkland landscaper led police on a short chase through Gympie’s CBD, including speeding through a stop sign at 70km/h, a court has heard.
Steven Michael Clement, 27, pleaded guilty on May 20, 2022 to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, doing burnouts, drug driving, driving without a licence and failing to give identifying particulars.
The court heard police spotted Clement doing a burnout in his black Ford Falcon at the intersection of Monkland St and the Bruce Hwy on February 6, 2022.
Police prosecutor Melissa Campbell said Clement then sped through a red light and crossed three lanes of traffic as the police car approached him.
Clement sped on to Reef St and past a playground, and then proceeded to speed through a stop sign doing 70km/h.
He was fined $1500 by Magistrate Chris Callaghan, and disqualified from driving for nine months. A conviction was recorded.
Jade Skyanna Forester Turner
A 24-year-old Gympie mum of two wiped away tears in the Gympie Magistrates Court dock as the court heard details of a spate of offences connected to her meth addiction.
Jade Skyanna Forrester Turner pleaded guilty on May 17, 2022 in Gympie Magistrates Court to 17 charges, including two charges of driving with a drug in her system, escaping lawful custody and evading police.
The court heard Forrester Turner’s crime spree began when she was pulled over on January 13, 2022, where police found traces of meth in her saliva and that she was in possession of drugs and accompanying utensils.
Two weeks later, she was pulled over a second time and found with traces of meth in her saliva.
Then, on March 11, she was stopped a third time and police searched her vehicle, which had a shattered front and back windshield following an altercation from the night before.
Forrester Turner had told police a baseball bat was taken to her car, though she later claimed it was “shot at”.
Forrester Turner was sentenced to 12 months behind bars, with her 44 days behind bars declared time served.
She was disqualified from driving for two years and was released on parole on May 22, 2022.
Michael Tristan Watts
A 42-year-old Gympie region landscaping business owner was jailed after he was caught driving twice the limit and without a licence.
Michael Tristan Watts was charged with driving under the influence and driving while disqualified from February 11, 2022.
He pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on April 22, 2022.
The court heard Watts, who owns Mike Watts Lawn and Garden Care, was pulled over on the Capricorn Highway at Emerald, where he told police he did not have a licence.
The court heard Watts had been disqualified from driving in 2019 at Maroochydore, and was not due to get his licence back until 2023.
He was also breath tested by police at the scene, where he blew 0.103.
His car was then left on the side of the road along with tools and equipment, which he paid to have towed back to Gympie.
Watts was sentenced to five months behind bars, and disqualified from driving for a further three and a half years.
Matthew Paul Pulkkinen
A heartbroken Southside business owner, who led police on a short chase through Victory Heights in December 2021, defended his actions by saying he “just wanted to be left alone”.
Matthew Paul Pulkkinen, 33, pleaded guilty on April 7, 2022 in Gympie Magistrates Court to one charge of failing to stop for a police officer.
The court heard police had received a 000 call at 1am December 28 about a car parked in the middle of Gympie Connection Rd, Victory Heights, with its lights on and engine running.
Police tracked down the car, and pulled up behind it with lights and sirens on, only for the car to immediately take off at speed.
A short chase ensued, and the car swerved on the road before police abandoned the chase.
On January 5, police visited his house to question Pulkkinen, who said he could not confirm if it was him behind the wheel that night.
“He stated ‘it could have, heaps of c***s drive my car at ten-past one in the morning. I can’t remember’,” Sgt Campbell said.
Pulkkinen was fined $6,850 and disqualified from driving for two years.
Terrence Darryl Stanton
A 31-year-old former rugby league player admitted to being a drug addict after he was caught driving with meth in his system.
Goomeri man Terrence Darryl Stanton pleaded guilty on December 16, 2021 in Gympie Magistrates Court to one charge of driving with a drug in his saliva.
The court heard Stanton was pulled over while driving on McGregor St at Goomeri on October 26, 2021, where traces of meth were found in his saliva.
Duty lawyer Laura Nightingale said Stanton had an “extensive” background in rugby league and previously played for the Redcliffe Dolphins and Gympie Devils before he worked as a plumber in his 20s.
She said her client had admitted he was a drug addict and had previous stints in a Gold Coast rehab, though he still struggled.
Stanton was disqualified from driving for three months.
Convictions not recorded
Connor Humphreys, Joshua Graham Coleman
A 19-year-old Scotchy Pocket man was sentenced in Gympie Magistrates Court for drink driving a mobility scooter with his mate on a main road.
Connor Humphreys faced court on July 21, 2022, almost three weeks after his mate, Joshua Graham Coleman, was sentenced for the same offence.
Humphreys and Coleman were spotted by police about 8.30pm on June 4, 2022, sharing the seat of a silver mobility scooter driving along Gympie Rd, Tin Can Bay.
The pair had half their backsides hanging off the seat as they took they scooter for a spin, the court heard.
It was told on July 8 that the scooter belonged to the grandmother of one of Coleman’s friends.
Coleman was controlling the speed while Humphreys was steering the scooter.
Both were breath tested and Coleman blew 0.153, more than three times the limit. Humphreys blew 0.084, the court heard on July 21.
Humphreys was fined $500 and disqualified from driving for two months. A conviction was recorded.
A conviction was not recorded for Coleman
Connor Lawrence Loader
A Gympie tradie, who caused a horrific accident involving a car carrying a 10-week-old baby in Gympie, was convicted of drink driving at the time of the accident.
Connor Lawrence Loader, 24, was supported by one person on August 4, 2022, where he pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and drink driving.
Loader did not stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Red Hill Road and Crown Road, and did not see the oncoming Mitsubishi Outlander carrying a 10-week-old baby, which collided with his car and flipped it on its side.
Emergency services were called, but nobody was seriously injured.
Loader was breath tested at the scene and blew 0.062.
He was fined $600 and disqualified from driving for one month.
Convictions were not recorded.
Nebira Gorogo
A drink driver who crashed into what was once a child care centre and dobbed himself in to police was fined in Gympie Magistrates Court.
Police tape covered the front of the vacant building on Horseshoe Bend after Nebira Gorogo crashed his ute on a busy road leading into the heart of Gympie on September 20, 2022.
Gorogo, 28, was driving a Nissan Navara when he crashed into the back of a parked car outside the building.
The parked car was pushed out of the way and received significant damage to the rear right side.
Gorogo then crashed into the old building, causing damage to the structural awning, and came to a stop in the yard next door.
The building was an old shop front attached to a residence and for several years was part of the Uniting Church child care centre on Horseshoe Bend, though the centre relocated many years ago.
Gorogo returned a breath test of 0.151, more than three times the legal limit.
Gorogo pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of liquor and driving without due care and attention in Gympie Magistrates Court on October 20, 2022.
He was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Convictions were not recorded.
Lachlan Arthur Dailly
After crashing his company car, a tradie working on the Woolooga solar farm lost his job and then his licence when he faced court.
Lachlan Arthur Dailly pleaded guilty on November 17, 2022 in Gympie Magistrates Court to drink driving while his BAC was .051 per cent and he was a P-plater.
Police prosecutor Vicki Kennedy-Grills told the court Dailly’s car was travelling on River Terrace at 9pm on October 28, 2022.
Dailly was rounding the corner when he lost control of the car, causing a traffic accident, Sergeant Kennedy-Grills said.
He held a P licence at the time and blew 0.051 when police asked him to do a breath test.
Dailly told the court he was working as a tradie on the solar farm in Woolooga until he lost his job over the incident as the car belonged to the company.
He was fined $250 and disqualified from driving for one month.
Convictions were not recorded.
Tara Jayne Roberts
A 47-year-old support pensioner was heavily fined in Gympie Magistrates Court on August 15, 2022 for drink driving through a campground to turn her car around.
Tara Jayne Roberts was convicted and fined for failing to appear, drink driving and obstructing police.
The court heard police drove to the Glastonbury Creek Camping Area about 7pm on October 14, 2021 after receiving reports of someone driving recklessly through the campgrounds.
They spoke with witnesses before approaching the car with Roberts inside, the court was told.
She had driven out of the campground and collided with a pole, police prosecutor Melissa Campbell said.
Roberts was turning her vehicle around so she could sleep in the right direction, the court heard.
Convictions were not recorded.
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