Travis Cameron Stengel destroyed a $50,000 car doing burnouts

A Townsville panel beater made a “foolish” error landing him in court.

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A TOWNSVILLE panel beater told police he had “given it a bit” when he crashed his car into an industrial estate in Garbutt.

Magistrate Steven Mosch slammed Travis Cameron Stengel’s “foolish behaviour” when the father-of-two fronted the Townsville Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The court heard police were called to a single-vehicle crash on Hamill St where Stengel had driven into a block wall and roller door at an industrial site.

Travis Cameron Stengel appeared in the Townsville Magistrates Court on April 15, 2021. Photo: Facebook.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to one charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle for the incident that occurred at 6.25pm on July 31 last year.

Police prosecutor senior constable Kim Murphy said police observed “fresh skid marks” from the vehicle, leading back to an intersection, a distance of 50m.

The same set of skid marks were seen in a “circular fashion” on the road that indicated he had been doing burnouts.

Senior constable Murphy said Stengel told police he had been travelling down the road at 75 km/h at a time when people could have still been leaving work.

Stengel’s lawyer Bradley Searston said his client’s vehicle worth $50,000 was written off in the incident.

Magistrate Mosch said “this is what happens when you act like a clown”.

“Perhaps I should start by congratulating you for being alive,” Mr Mosch said.

Stengel was fined $1500 for the offence, which was referred to SPER.

He was disqualified from holding a licence for six months.

No conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Travis Cameron Stengel destroyed a $50,000 car doing burnouts