Jake Gordon Knight told: ‘You are continually putting the community at risk with your driving behaviour’

The tradie had three chances to avoid a criminal conviction on his record but he was told: ‘You are continually putting the community at risk with your driving behaviour’.

A bushie has had his hopes of getting a gun licence dashed after a magistrate recorded a criminal conviction for driving behaviour that put other road users at risk.

Jake Gordon Knight was barely two months into a 3.5-year driving ban when he evaded police while driving disqualified at 137km/h in a 90km/h zone on Mackay Eungella Rd.

Now he has been hit with just under $10,000 in fines and he will not be able to get a licence until 2026.

It was about 8.19pm on March 19, 2021 when Knight’s ute sped past a police crew, who switched on their lights and sirens – however the 24 year old overtook another vehicle and turned off the ute’s lights.

“He was endangering the community while he was disqualified driving,” prosecutor Harry Coburn said.

This is also his third time appearing in court.

Evade police is considered so serious a charge under Queensland law the penalty is a mandatory 50-day jail term in actual custody or a $6892.50 fine.

Defence solicitor Aaron Sellentin, of Barron and Allen Lawyers, said the offending occurred during a relationship breakdown that his client “obviously didn’t cope well with”.

Mackay Magistrates Court heard Knight was a second-year apprentice boilermaker – his employer tendered a glowing reference.

Mr Sellentin said Knight preferred bush life and pushed for no conviction to be recorded as his client wanted to get his gun licence so he could take up feral pest control.

“The evade is just too serious, he shouldn’t have been on the road,” Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said.

“The very nature of evades and why they are usually punished by a period of 50 days in jail is that it puts members of the public at risk.

“That’s why police often just desist and let people get away who are evading because they recognised that high speed chases kill people.”

Ms Hartigan determined the evade was so serious “a conviction should be recorded”.

“He’s also been to court three times and he hasn’t learned his lesson that if he keeps coming back he won’t get the benefit of no conviction recorded,” she said.

Knight pleaded guilty to evade police, high-range speeding and disqualified driving.

Ms Hartigan said for his age Knight had “an appalling history for drink driving”.

“You are continually putting the community at risk with your driving behaviour,” she said.

“You don’t deserve no conviction recorded and you need to suffer the consequence of your actions which is you won’t be able to get a gun licence and you might have to wait many, many years before you can return to bush life but you only have yourself to blame for that.”

Knight was fined $9137.5 and disqualified from driving for another two years, which will not begin until July 2024. Convictions were recorded.