William John Brown: Ipswich man who drove unlicensed to collect son from hospital says he had ‘no other option’

A man convicted of driving without a licence has told an Ipswich court he had “no other option” but to, as he needed to collect his six-month-old baby from hospital.

An Ipswich man has appeared in court on his third disqualified driving offence, telling a magistrate he had “no other option” but to commit the crime.

William John Brown, 25, appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday, June 28 where he pleaded guilty to one charge of driving a motor vehicle without a driver’s licence.

The court heard the Goodna man drove a car through Bundamba on January 7 this year, at a time when he was not the holder of a driver’s licence and was disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence.

Prosecutor Sergeant Nick Turnbull said the offence was the third disqualified driving entry on Brown’s record. He was dealt with for both of the other offences on February 18 last year.

Appearing in court on Tuesday without legal representation, Brown said he had “no other option” but to drive a car on the day in question.

He said his six-month-old son had been taken to Ipswich Hospital by ambulance and was kept there for some time before he was contacted and advised he was being discharged and needed to be collected.

Brown explained his partner was a learner driver, his parents were out of the state, and his partner’s family work in aged care and were unable to leave their jobs to collect the six-month-old.

He said he believed at the time that a baby could not travel in an Uber of a taxi — and it was raining heavily and Covid-19 was rampant — so he took it upon himself to drive to the hospital.

“My sole focus was his health,” Brown said.

He told the court his partner was unemployed and pregnant. The pair share a now-one-year-old and have a second child due next month.

Magistrate David Shepherd said Brown’s driving history “isn’t great”, but noted his criminal history was relatively short and dated.

He took into account the Goodna man’s personal circumstances and pleas of guilty and said he accepted his actions were borne of concern for his son.

“I’m satisfied that it was not a deliberate and wanton ignorance of your obligations for some trivial issue,” Mr Shepherd said.

“You were left in a situation where you believed that this was the only reasonable option.

“That belief perhaps should have been informed by a little bit more thought than what went into it, but nonetheless I’m satisfied that it was borne out of concern for your son.”

Mr Shepherd ordered Brown complete 80 hours of unpaid community service within 12 months and disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for two years.

A conviction was recorded.