Townsville Magistrate’s sentence of repeat unlicensed driver overturned
A Townsville tradesman who told police he drove illegally “to make money” has been re-sentenced after appeal court judges rejected a magistrate's one-in-a-hundred mercy.
A repeat unlicensed driver has been re-sentenced after an appeal court overturned a Magistrate’s lenient sentence, calling it “unreasonable and unjust”.
Glenn Anthony Cullen, a serial disqualified driver, appeared in a Townsville court earlier this year where he pleaded guilty to one count of driving a motor vehicle without a licence, disqualified by court order
Magistrate Cathy McLennan fined him $1500 and ordered he be disqualified from driving for two years.
The 32-year-old man had been pulled over by police in August 2024 for not displaying the correct number plates on the back of his trailer, and when questioned, told authorities he didn’t have his licence on him - however, further checks revealed he had been disqualified via court order for two years.
The roller door installation tradesman told police he continued to drive for work as he needed to make money.
At the time of his sentence, police prosecutor Danny Burke said Cullen had a six page traffic history which included multiple unlicensed driving offences dated back to 2011.
On September 4, 2023 the tradie was sentenced to nine months jail wholly suspended for 18 months for similar offending.
“The prosecutor submitted that considering his history and that the offending constitutes the fifth occasion since 2020 that (Cullen) was before the court for a disqualified drive, the only appropriate penalty is that of a period of imprisonment,” the appeal stated.
Cullen’s lawyer submitted to Magistrate McLennan that the father had young children to care for, and his wife suffered significant medical ailments that prevented her from working, along with owing a significant amount of money to the ATO and Palm Island Council.
The Court of Appeal noted that before handing down a sentence Magistrate McLennan “somewhat curiously remarked” why she was not going to impose a prison sentence.
“You’ve come to court today probably thinking that you would get a jail sentence, and in fact 99 cases out of 100 I would not have thought twice before imposing that suspended sentence, but that was meant to stop you from driving,” she said.
“But you’re that one case in a hundred that I think is an unusual case, and I can give you another chance, but don’t stand there again.
“Don’t make that mistake again because someone else looking at this is going to see this entry and if you were to drive while disqualified again, they’re going to say ‘whoever was sitting last time has been far too lenient last time’ do you understand that?”
The appeal was successful and labelled as “unreasonable and unjust”.
The Court of Appeal ordered Cullen’s sentence be amended by way of fully invoking his nine month jail term from 2023 and sentencing him to six months’ jail on the fresh charge.
A parole release date was set immediately.
His driving disqualification period of two years remained the same.
More Coverage
Originally published as Townsville Magistrate’s sentence of repeat unlicensed driver overturned
