Why this business owner thought he was above the law

A review revealed the businessman had a ‘disregard for the law if it got in the way of his goals’

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A PSYHCIATRIC report of Stuart James Bazley, 56, revealed the Dalby businessman had a “disregard for the law if it got in the way of his goals”.

It was that disregard that had Bazley narrowly escaping jail time as he appeard in court on six driving offences.

Police prosecutor senior constable Jodie Tahana told Dalby Magistrate Court on four different occasions between January and July, Bazley was caught driving disqualified, despite having accrued nearly $4000 worth of fines and a four-year disqualification from driving at the end of 2018.

Police detected Bazley driving on March 21 despite having had his licence disqualified for two years in January.

Three days later on March 24, Bazley was caught speeding at 115km/h and a 100 km/h zone while still on a disqualified licence.

When stopped by police, Snr Cble Tahana told the court Bazley told the arresting officers, “just give me a break, can you? I’ll go to jail this time”.

When Bazley was caught driving while disqualified on July 19, he gave the arresting officers a fake name, later saying he used a fake name because he knew his licence was disqualified and he “didn’t want to go to jail”.

Indeed, the employee whose name Bazley used had previously given him a positive character reference while he was appearing in court around December 2018.

The employee said in his letter that Bazley’s offending throughout the course of 2018 was “out of character” and he believed Bazley had “learnt his lesson”.

On July 20, Bazley was caught driving by police again, and told the arresting officers he “didn’t know why they weren’t out catching real criminals”.

Snr Cble Tahana’s sentencing submissions included a term of imprisonment of six to eight months, and called for Bazley to serve at least one-third of that term.

Defence lawyer Joshua Jones disagreed with the submissions, saying a “significant” fine would be sufficient.

Mr Jones submitted a number of psyhchiatric reports to the court, saying Bazley’s behaviour came as the result of a “mood disorder” after Bazley sustained a head injury in 2018.

Mr Jones argued the offending between January and July occurred during the “significant onset” of the disorder.

As well as addressing Bazley’s “disregard for the law”, another report claimed Bazley’s mental health issues and his head injury “contributed directly but not causally” to his repeat offending.

Magistrate Tracey Mossop told the court a term of imprisonment “has to definitely come into consideration”, and referred to Bazley’s repeated attempts at driving while disqualified as “severe” offending.

Bazley pleaded guilty to four counts of driving disqualified by a court order, one count of disobeying the speed limit, and one count of contravening the direction or requirement of police.

Bazley was sentenced to four months imprisonment wholly suspended for 18 months, and an absolute licence disqualification.

He was fined a total of $660.

Convictions were recorded for all offences except the contravention of a police order.

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