Banned driver blames four-year-old passenger

A MAN caught on an unregistered, uninsured motorbike after a magistrate had revoked his licence, did the only logical thing: blame his four-year-old passenger.

WHEN Grant James Malcolm was caught driving an unregistered, uninsured four-wheel motorbike on a road after a magistrate had taken his licence, he did the only logical thing: blamed his four-year-old passenger.

Malcolm, 28, will spend two weeks behind bars after he leaped off the bike, while his young son was still on board, and told police it was the boy who was driving.

Malcolm pleaded guilty at the Ipswich Magistrates Court to driving while his licence was disqualified by a court order, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving an uninsured vehicle.

A police officer was on O'Neills Rd, Willowbank, issuing a ticket to another driver when he saw Malcolm driving the four-wheel bike on the road with a small child on board and indicated for the bike to pull over. Malcolm instead turned the bike around but stalled it. He started it up and began driving away before the officer caught up.

Malcolm then leaped off the bike and left his son on the bike. He said he couldn't be blamed and the four-year-old was the one driving.

When interviewed by police, Malcolm continued to deny he was driving even when the officer told him he'd seen him. A licence check revealed Malcolm was serving a six-month court-ordered licence disqualification and the bike wasn't registered or insured.

The court heard Malcolm lives on the road and was driving to an area of scrub to ride the bike with his son. Malcolm was serving a period of parole at the time of the offence, and could be sent to prison if his parole was cancelled. Defence lawyer Matthew Fairclough said Malcolm "didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation he had placed himself in".

He was sentenced to four months prison but will serve 14 days before it is suspended for two years. He was disqualified from holding a driver's licence for two years.

Originally published as Banned driver blames four-year-old passenger