Drink drivers, assaulting officers, theft and crashes: the cases in Latrobe Valley court this week

Magistrates dealt with everything from drink drivers to assaults on police officers, thefts and crashes this week.

People from all walks of life appeared in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court this week for everything from drink driving to theft.

Sentences ranged from fines to jail time and magistrates had some strong comments about some of the offending.

Tyrone Mobourne

A man who stole his friend’s car after a coffee date was sentenced to time behind bars.

Morwell man Tyrone Mobourne, 24, faced court on Monday on a charge of theft of a motor vehicle.

Tyrone Mobourne, 24, from Morwell faced the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Monday on a charge of theft of a motor vehicle.

The court heard Mobourne was having coffee with a friend in July this year before he took their car keys and stole the car.

He drove it to a petrol station where he filled up with $17 worth of petrol and was later spotted driving erratically by police.

But he fled when officers signalled for him to pull over.

He was later seen jumping a fence, climbing over a garden shed and falling through its roof.

Mobourne was later located hiding in a bedroom in Moe, with a flick knife in his pocket.

He was sentenced to three months in prison, with 15 days reckoned as time served. He was also disqualified from driving for six months.

Paul McDonald

A man who was driving with meth in his system turned to drugs as he was having a “hard time” dealing with his life.

Diesel mechanic Paul McDonald faced court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing meth and one of driving with meth in his system.

In March this year McDonald was intercepted by police while driving in Trafalgar. While a breath test did not detect alcohol, a drug test returned a positive reading.

He was taken to Warragul Police Station where he admitted he had “done a bit [of meth] the day before”.

Police found a small amount in his pocket, the court heard, and a secondary drug test revealed the presence of meth in his system.

McDonald had said he had turned to drugs after having a “hard time dealing with life”.

He told the court he had been clean from drugs for four months and was “trying to be better for [his] son.”

“There is no excuse for my actions. I have learned my lesson,” he said.

Magistrate Tim Walsh fined McDonald $600 and he was suspended from driving for six months.

Jordon Jones

A woman who assaulted a police officer has avoided jail, with a Magistrate reluctantly dishing out a fine instead.

Jordon Jones, 30, fronted court on Monday where she pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer.

The incident occurred when police attended her home following a report of an altercation in December 2021.

She told police to “f*** off” when they tried to talk to her.

The court heard Jones began walking towards one officer whose back was turned.

A fellow officer pulled her away, thinking she was going to attack their colleague, and Jones spun around and struck the officer in the head.

Jones’s defence argued it was a minor assault done in the course of being pulled away and so she should receive a mild punishment.

Magistrate Walsh disagreed.

“They don’t put on that uniform and become punching bags,” he said.

“She assaulted a police officer, tell me why she shouldn’t go to jail?”

However, he agreed to issue Jones a fine of $2500 and told her the behaviour was “completely unacceptable”.

Jason Claffey

A man who spent two weeks in hospital after crashing his car into a fence has avoided a drink driving conviction.

Jason Claffey faced court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to a string of driving charges.

The court heard Claffey had jumped in his Nissan Navarra after a night of drinking at the Drouin Hotel in December 2021.

He was driving along Main Station Road when he veered to the left, left the roadway and crashed into a fence.

A witness saw him exit his vehicle and hide in a nearby bush, before they called the police.

A breath test later revealed Claffey had a blood-alcohol content of 0.13. He told police he “didn’t believe [he] would be over the limit”.

Claffey was hospitalised with a chest injury for two weeks after the incident.

The magistrate said he was “lucky no others were hurt”.

Claffey was fined $600 without conviction and lost his licence for 13 months.

Nathan Forester

A man who studied robotics and had “several traffic priors” has been fined after failing to report a crash.

Nathan Forester faced court on Tuesday after he crashed his car in Drouin in April this year, but failed to notify police.

Nathan Forester faced Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court after he crashed his car in Drouin and failed to notify police.

Forester — who worked at Habitat Creations, a conservation, land management, landscaping, and native plant supply service in Trafalgar as a field co-ordinator — was driving his work-branded ute when he failed to negotiate a corner.

He veered onto the left side of the road, skidded and crashed head-on with a tree. He took out a fence before the crash, causing $3,100 worth of damage.

The court heard Forester got out of the driver’s seat but instead of alerting anyone to the crash he sat down in the passenger seat and waited four hours before calling his mum to pick him up.

His mother arrived about an hour later and drove him home. She told Forester she needed to call the police and report the crash and he said he would.

Forester called his manager and told them about the crash.

The next day a resident living near the crash site reported it to police.

When police located Forester, he told them he hadn’t called due to “panic”.

Forester suffers from bad anxiety and this was cited as a reason he didn’t notify police, the court heard.

The court heard Forester told police he had crashed because he had seen a wallaby on the corner and tried to avoid hitting it.

After the crash Forester “froze, felt sick and threw up”. He was “freaking out” and “didn’t know what to do”.

He was fined $100 by Magistrate Mckenna and he had his licence suspended.