Sunshine Coast penalties for hooning behaviour/acts of hooning
Sunshine Coast drivers risk stiff penalties and losing their vehicles as the latest wave of hooning behaviour pass through our courts.
Police & Courts
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Sunshine Coast drivers risk stiff penalties time and having their prized vehicles impounded, sold or crushed as police crack down on hooning.
First hand footage in recent years captured by the drivers themselves reveals the extent of what police call “extremely selfish” behaviour, with vehicles reaching high speeds and doing burnouts in some cases.
Sunshine Coast Highway Patrol’s Shane Panoho didn’t mince words when he said the attitude some drivers had towards road safety was “arrogance”.
“They feel like they have the right to drive in that matter on public roads ... it’s unacceptable,” Senior Sergeant Panoho said.
“They’re putting their lives and the lives of everyone else in jeopardy.”
Sergeant Panoho said several methods have been used to stop acts of hooning including incriminating social media footage, search warrants finding suspect vehicles as well as covert and overt patrols in high traffic areas such as the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
When these drivers are caught, Sergeant Panoho said they can be punished in a variety of ways, some involving their vehicles or even jail.
“There’s an exorbitant cost in seizing and holding those vehicles, and if ownership is relinquished lawfully, it can be impounded for 90 days and at the conclusion of their court proceedings, they can be forfeited to the state,” he said.
“If towing and storage costs don’t exceed the value of the vehicle they can sometimes go to auction, while if there’s no value in the car it can be crushed, a lot of it depends on the vehicle and the nature of the offence.”
The Sunshine Coast Highway Patrol’s officer in charge said police continue to educate the younger generation through targeted campaigns in high schools.
“We’ve identified from recent fatals this year, four of them in those crashes were either P plate or L plate drivers,” he said.
“That’s why we continue to educate these younger drivers.”
Sunshine Coast Motorsports Club vice-president Colin Fabri works with the 250-member strong organisation operating out of Doonan, which holds legal events for circuit racing.
Mr Fabri said they run these events towards racing, not drifting, in Doonan, Nambour and near Brisbane and said the process to join was not difficult.
“You need a licence then there’s event costs, membership fees, so it’s pretty easy to get started,” Mr Fabri said.
“There is motorsport going on in the community and we’d like to make it bigger and better but we’ve had a few problems in doing that.”
Mr Fabri said they previously submitted plans to council to expand their operations and develop their land to include additional race days, learner driving circuits and more but had been knocked back by the Sunshine Coast Council.
“We struggle to get things approved, we have the money to put on bigger things and take in more people to get hoons off the roads,” he said.
“We will keep pushing … as we’re the nearest racetrack on the Coast, with the next closest being Lakeside Raceway [in Kurwongbah].”
Sunshine Coast Council has been contacted for comment.
CONVICTIONS
Jye Robert Wakeman
A Buderim tradie’s lawyer told a court his 27-year-old client’s love for cars and a lack of race tracks was the reason why he ripped a huge skid in Little Mountain.
Jye Robert Wakeman was fined in Caloundra Magistrates Court on July 27, 2022 after he created a huge billow of smoke during a burnout along Latcham Dr.
Police prosecutor Amanda Brewer said CCTV footage from the BP service station on February 13, 2022 nearby showed Wakeman spinning the back wheels of his Holden Commodore.
Plumes of black smoke emanated from his rear tyres as he drifted for 30m until he drove away along Caloundra Rd.
Wakeman pleaded guilty to two counts of driving unlicensed, driving without due care and making unnecessary smoke and was fined $1650.
He was then disqualified for three months with convictions recorded.
Darcy Alan Turnbull
Worried restaurant goers frantically called triple-0 as a Mooloolaba fisherman sped around a Sunshine Coast shopping centre carpark billowing smoke and laying rubber.
Darcy Alan Turnbull was fined $1300 in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on November 30, 2021 after he pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving a white Holden Commodore in the Kawana Shoppingworld car park on April 3.
Police prosecutor Mark Burrell told the court six triple-0 calls were received from concerned restaurant goers as Turnbull sped around the car park at 7:30pm.
Senior Constable Burrell said Turnbull travelled through a pedestrian crossing at speed while revving his car and caused smoke to billow from the wheel arches.
Three minutes later patrons, scared for their safety, were forced to move places as Turnbull did another burnout in front of the restaurants.
Turnbull was disqualified from driving for six months.
Convictions were recorded.
Wisam El Haouli
A Glenview man who was driving two teens to their formal when his car flipped in Moffat Beach was found guilty of dangerous driving.
Wisam El Haouli, 45, was hired to drive two high school leavers in his 1974 Torana V8 twin-turbo car to their formal on November 18, 2020, from Moffat Beach.
El Haouli was driving with the two teens in his car along Seaview Terrace, Moffat Beach, when he did a burnout.
Video footage played in court showed the car had crashed into bollards outside a cafe, causing the car to flip onto its side.
El Haouli was found guilty in Caloundra Magistrates Court on Friday, October 1 2021, for one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle.
He had previously pleaded not guilty to the charge, arguing his car had a mechanical failure, causing it to crash.
Magistrate Catherine Benson sentenced El Haouli to 12 months in jail, which was wholly suspended for three years.
He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months with a conviction recorded.
Travis Christopher Hoskin
A driver’s badly-timed burnout cost him after he was caught laying rubber while parked behind a police car.
Travis Christopher Hoskin, 25, was parked at traffic lights on Maroochydore Rd, Buderim when he started angrily revving his car’s engine sending smoke from the wheel arches at 5pm on August 23 2021.
Police prosecutor James Allen said police parked two vehicles ahead spotted the smoke after they heard an engine roaring.
Mr Allen told Maroochydore Magistrates Court Hoskin’s Holden Commodore was still emitting smoke from the fuel wells when the police pulled him over after passing through the intersection.
Hoskin pleaded guilty on September 24, 2021 to wilfully making unnecessary noise or smoke.
Unrepresented, Hoskin said it gave him “a bit of an adrenaline rush”.
She fined him $450, with a conviction recorded.
NO CONVICTIONS
Thomas Michael Gething-Smith
A Forest Glen tyre-fitter copped a fine after video his partner took of his “reckless driving” involving multiple burnouts featured on A Current Affair.
Thomas Michael Gething-Smith, 19, was fined $1200 with a driving disqualification of one year and three months in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on May 16, 2022.
Police prosecutor Mick Ruddiman said police searched Gething-Smith’s phone on March 16, 2022 and found 24 videos of him hooning in 2021.
One of the videos showed Gething-Smith doing a large burnout near Caloundra Rd, Caloundra, and Corbould Park.
Sergeant Ruddiman told the court another video showed further burnouts at Baringa where smoke once again filled the road way.
Gething-Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous operation, possessing drugs and possessing a utensil.
No convictions were recorded.
Tye Michael Stillitano
A young Sunshine Coast man lost control of his car while doing a burnout and drove on the wrong side of the road while being filmed on his brother’s phone, a court heard.
Tye Michael Stillitano, 18, was fined $800 and slapped with a driving ban after pleading guilty to a string of driving offences in Caloundra Magistrates Court on May 11, 2022.
The court heard Stillitano was driving a Ford vehicle on Peachester Rd, Peachester about 9pm on December 18, 2021 near an unlit steep street incline with winding roads and a 60km/h speed limit.
The 18-year-old stopped his car on the road behind a Nissan Skyline which performed a burnout and drove away.
Stillitano then drove through Coochin Creek about 9.28am on January 4, 2022, and stopped his vehicle on an 80km/h roadway which was wet from rain.
After stopping, the 18-year-old did a burnout and crossed onto the opposite side of the road before he lost control of the car and spun 180 degrees while a front seat passenger recorded it.
Stillitano pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving, one count of driving while relevant drug is present in saliva and one count of driving while relevant drug is present and holding a learner, probationary, or provisional license.
Magistrate Catherine Benson fined Stillitano $800 and placed him on nine months’ probation cumulative for the two dangerous driving charges and he had his license disqualified for 18 months.
No convictions were recorded.
Jasmine Paige Howsan
A camping trip at Rainbow Beach took a bad turn for a teenage girl and her friends when police caught the 18-year-old doing burnouts and fishtails at Double Island Point.
Three of her female friends were riding in the back of Jasmine Paige Howsan’s black ute when she was seen driving dangerously on October 17, 2021 at 10am.
The Dicky Beach teenager pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle in Caloundra Magistrates Court on March 2, 2022.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Amanda Brewer said Howsan was seen by multiple beachgoers performing burnouts before being stopped by Tin Can Bay police who were patrolling.
Howsan was given six months’ probation and disqualified from driving for six months.
No conviction was recorded.
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