St Clair teen Evangelia Petratos caught driving with cannabis, driving while suspended

An unemployed teen who turned up to court toting Dior and Chanel bags has been warned to stop taking drugs and clean up her shocking traffic record.

St Clair teenager Evangelia Paraskevi Petratos has faced court after she was caught driving with cannabis in her system and getting behind the wheel while disqualified — offences that added to her “shocking’’ record.

The 19-year-old mum-to-be was driving along Fowler Rd at Merrylands West on December 5 when police pulled her up for an unrelated traffic offence just after 11pm.

She was taken back to Granville police station where she provided oral fluid which was later confirmed as cannabis and she was charged with driving a motor vehicle with illicit drugs present in oral fluid.

But Petratos’s embarrassing driving record — she has racked up more than 10 offences — got worse when she got behind the wheel while suspended at Broughton St, Old Guildford, on the afternoon of March 23.

Evangelia Petratos will be off the roads for at least three months.

Evangelia Petratos leaves court with her partner.

On Friday, Parramatta Local Court heard her front seat passenger protruded half his torso from the passenger window and made a gesture to a motorbike rider, after the cyclist allegedly threw a bottle at the car.

When police pulled her over, she claimed she was aware of the suspension over demerit points but did not know when it was to take effect.

Petratos was charged with driving while suspended and pleaded guilty to that and the drug offence.

Her lawyer said Petratos was remorseful and had stopped taking drugs since falling pregnant and took drugs to treat a back injury she had from August.

She said her client did not have a drug habit and her partner relied on her to drive him to work because he did not have a valid licence.

The court heard he was the sole provider and Petratos was unemployed.

“She brought that on herself unfortunately,’’ Magistrate Peter Feather told the court, before telling Petratos her driving record was “shocking”.

“Nearly a person a day dies on our roads in NSW because other people don’t comply with the rules,’’ Magistrate Feather said.

“I hope you learned a great deal from the traffic offender’s program.

“You using cannabis will impact the weight and size of that child and that’s not good for your child.’’

Petratos who appeared in court toting luxury brand Dior, Chanel and Mecca Maxima shopping bags with her partner, was convicted of both offences.

She was fined $400 for the cannabis charge, $600 for driving with a suspended licence and disqualified for driving for three months.

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