Michael William Johnstone pleaded guilty to 14 charges including dangerous driving

A dangerous driver refused to stop even after three of his car tyres burst, forcing him to travel at 60km/h under the speed limit on the busy Bruce Highway.

Michael William Johnstone, 48, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving while adversely affected and evasion among 14 other offences committed during a crime spree between Januar 24 and February 18, 2022 in the Mackay region.

A dangerous driver refused to stop even after three of his car tyres burst as he was fleeing police, forcing him to travel at 60km/h under the speed limit on the busy Bruce Highway.

“People had to take evasive action, police tried to get you to stop, you didn’t,” Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said.

“Three of your tyres burst and you were driving on the highway … you were going about 40km/h (in a 100km/h zone).”

Michael William Johnstone, 48, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving while adversely affected and evasion among 14 other offences committed during a crime spree between January 24 and February 18, 2022 in the Mackay region.

Mackay Magistrates Court heard the offending included “borrowing” his mates car and not returning it, unlawful use of a car belonging to a company, entering a woman’s car and stealing $700, and stealing banks cards and using them.

“He simply has very limited recollection from that time,” Legal Aid Queensland solicitor Rosie Varley said.

“He instructs that he was self medicated with drugs at the time … predominantly meth.

“He is extremely remorseful and sorry for his actions.”

The court heard he had an extremely relevant criminal history spanning 10 years and 13 pages.

Johnstone has already been in custody for 22 months and Ms Hartigan determined the best outcome was for him to spend another 58 days in jail to clear his slate, otherwise he was at risk of facing another two years imprisonment.

“Your Honour, I’ve done a fair bit of time … I was hoping I could get out today to do the right thing and get back into the community,” Johnstone said, appearing in court via videolink.

“For you to get the penalty that would allow you to get out today, it’s actually a bad penalty and it is a wrong penalty and it is a harsh penalty and it’s an unfair penalty,” Ms Hartigan said.

“So you’ve really got to play the long game here, not the short game because in a knee jerk you might say I want to get out today and I’ll do anything to get out today but you’re acting putting yourself at risk of having to serve another two years in jail.”

The court heard while in custody Johnstone had significantly engaged with prison mental health, had an accommodation plan on his release and had successfully applied for NDIS.

Johnstone was jailed for 18 months and disqualified from driving for two years. He was given immediate parole with 678 days deemed time already served.

The court heard he still had 58 days owed from a previous sentence to serve.