Corbin Steven Foothead: Ipswich L-plater fronts court for dangerous driving

An Ipswich dad who pulled a ‘near catastrophic’ stunt at an underground car meet at a Heathwood industrial area has been stripped of his licence and handed a jail sentence.

An Ipswich dad and L-plater has been disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence for three years after he committed a spate of driving offences; completing burnouts, repeatedly driving while unlicensed, and failing to pay for petrol.

Corbin Steven Foothead, 22, appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday, July 5 on 23 charges including seven counts of driving while disqualified, six counts of fraud, four counts of driving while unlicensed, one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle, and one count of wilfully making unnecessary noise or smoke.

The Redbank man pleaded guilty to all offences.

Prosecutor Sergeant Nick Turnbull said that while Foothead’s crimes were not violent, they did pose a serious risk to the community.

He said the young dad’s dangerous operation of a vehicle was the most serious aspect of his offending.

The court heard the dangerous operation charge related to his participation in a car meet in an industrial area at Heathwood on June 3 last year, during which he completed burnouts and a “360-degree spin” before losing control of his vehicle.

Foothead had to apply his breaks to prevent his car from colliding with another parked vehicle. He was disqualified from driving at the time.

He was later seen driving three times in one day while disqualified and left multiple service stations without paying for petrol.

Defence solicitor Kris Jahnke said his client spent a weekend in custody after he was arrested last year following his participation in the “illegal burnout festival”, which was an “eye-opening” experience for him. He has not reoffended since.

He reiterated Foothead’s young age and the good prospects he had for rehabilitation, being a valued employee who worked five to six days a week.

Mr Jahnke also told the court he had a three-year-old daughter and a partner. She is soon to welcome their second child into the world and vouched that Foothead was focused on his family and employment.

Ms Kahlert said she had taken a number of factors into account when deciding an appropriate penalty, including the seriousness of Foothead’s offending and his lack of criminal history.

She said his burnout behaviour could have ended “catastrophically”, especially if he had collided with one of the observers at a meet, but it did seem he had “finally come to (his) senses” after his weekend in custody.

Foothead was sentenced to a total of six months’ imprisonment – wholly suspended for 18 months – and was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for three years.

He was placed on a 12-month probation order and ordered to pay restitution to the service stations he stole petrol from. No convictions were recorded.

He will return to Ipswich Magistrates Court on August 1 on three charges of failing to appear in accordance with an undertaking.