Aaron Anthony Robbins: Nundah Qld Rail apprentice in court
A fast-rising Brisbane apprentice has sustained a big career – and vehicle – setback as the price paid for his ‘disdain’ of court orders.
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A fast-rising Queensland Rail apprentice has sustained a major career setback after he was caught driving his company car while his driver’s licence was disqualified by a court order.
The car was seized and Aaron Anthony Robbins, 23, was forced to return it to his employer, although he is still locked in to lease repayments. He also had to relocate to Nundah to be closer to a train line for transport.
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Robbins was intercepted by police driving on the Pacific Motorway near Beenleigh just before 5pm on April 23 this year. When they ran a licence check, they discovered he had been disqualified by the Warwick Magistrates Court for a period of six months from January 8.
Defence lawyer Bruce Johnstone told the court his client’s “stupid, innocent but very costly error” had already caused him to suffer financially.
“He’s paying $440 a week rent on a wage of about $650 a week and he’s still got to pay the car repayments also,” Mr Johnstone said.
He told the court Robbins represented himself at the Warwick court.
As a result he became “confused” by the court process and believed he had only been disqualified for three months.
“He just didn’t understand, you can’t put an old head on young shoulders,” Mr Johnstone said.
The court heard Robbins had been convicted of three previous offences of unlicensed driving, and escaped a fourth with no conviction recorded. He has a four-page traffic and two-page criminal history.
Mr Johnstone told the court Robbins was a prodigious young talent who originally began his apprenticeship with Aurizon five years ago.
Three years ago, he beat out about 1500 other applicants to secure a coveted Queensland Rail apprenticeship. He has recently begun another apprenticeship with the state-owned rail company, instrumentation and control, which is much more specialised, and has another two years to run.
Magistrate Louise Shephard questioned how someone with Robbins’ talents could become so confused as to ignore the Warwick magistrate’s order.
“Driving when disqualified by a court is a serious charge, people get imprisoned because it shows disdain for a court’s order,” she said.
“I find it surprising that someone of your age with your experience would become so confused.”
However, she ultimately accepted this was the case.
Robbins was fined $750 and disqualified from driving for two years.