Logan teen Harrisen Blake Newton jailed for evading police

A Logan teen who claims he “wasn’t thinking straight” when he hightailed it from police along one of the busiest roads in Queensland will spend the next 50 days in custody.

A young Logan concreter has been handed a prison sentence after driving dangerously along one of the busiest roads in Queensland; speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, and tailgating.

Harrisen Blake Newton, 18, of Loganholme appeared in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Thursday, July 14 on a swag of charges including dangerous operation of a vehicle, evasion, stealing, and wilful damage.

He pleaded guilty to all offences before the court.

Prosecutor Sergeant Karine Evans said Newton had no criminal history, but “quite a significant traffic history” for a person of his age.

She said the dangerous operation and evasion offences related to him speeding, crossing double white lines, weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, and breaking heavily in November last year along the Pacific Motorway and other roads at Yatala.

The wilful damage charge was laid after Newton struck a mirror on a car a woman was driving out of a premises, causing the glass to smash and the mirror assembly to be left hanging.

Representing himself in court on Thursday, Newton said he “shouldn’t have done it” but he “wasn’t thinking straight” and “regretted it straight away”.

“I was going through a hard time,” he said.

“I wasn’t thinking, I wasn’t on the right track, I wasn’t working.”

He told Magistrate Michael O’Driscoll he was in a better place now, working in the concreting industry.

The court heard he suffered a number of mental health issues — including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and anxiety — but was not on medication.

Mr O’Driscoll said he was concerned about Newton’s conduct and “not impressed” by his inaction when it came to addressing his mental ill health.

He took into account the young man’s pleas of guilty, his personal circumstances, and the seriousness of his offending when deciding an appropriate penalty.

“You have no regard for yourself, you have no regard for anyone else who may have been using or been on the road at that time,” Mr O’Driscoll said.

Newton was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for wilfully damaging property, six months’ imprisonment for dangerously operating a vehicle, and 50 days’ imprisonment for evading police.

He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for six months for the dangerous operation offence and two years for the evasion offence.

For other charges, he was convicted and not further punished.

Newton was remanded in custody and will serve the minimum period of 50 days in a correctional facility. His parole release date was set for September 1 this year.