Genazzano College grad Hannah Zambuni pleads guilty to theft and driving offences

A Genazzano grad who once had the world at her feet has been warned her next criminal offence could land her in jail.

Hannah Zambuni pleaded guilty to driving offences. Facebook.

A Genazzano College graduate’s life spiralled out of control after she hit drugs and turned to crime, a court has heard.

Hannah Zambuni, 25, was convicted and fined in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday after she pleaded guilty to theft and driving while disqualified.

Zambuni posed as her sister Stephanie Zambuni in a brazen attempt to beat a speeding fine after she was clocked doing 137 km/h along EastLink near Dandenong on April 13 last year.

Police intercepted Zambuni driving a black Holden sedan and activated body-worn cameras.

Zambuni produced her sister’s licence which she had stolen months earlier, the court was told.

Authorities issued Zambuni’s sister a $620 fine and notified her that her licence had been suspended for six months.

Zambuni’s sister informed authorities she had not been driving that day because she was in isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zambuni, who had faced a charge of intentionally obstructing a police officer, was put in the frame by her sister.

Investigators checked camera footage which showed Zambuni as the speeding driver.

Further investigations revealed serial road pest Zambuni was driving while disqualified when pulled over by police.

Zambuni, who was interviewed by police, admitted she found the licence and “decided” to keep it.

Zambuni attempted to provide another false name to police after she was pulled over on the Greensborough Bypass in May last year.

Police informed Zambuni it was an offence to state a false name before she copped to her real identity.

Investigations uncovered Zambuni had lost her licence for 12 months earlier that year after failing an oral fluid test.

Police interviewed Zambuni at the scene, asking what name she provided.

“Not mine,” Zambuni said.

The court heard Zambuni graduated VCE at elite Kew girls’ school Genazzano College in 2014 but her great opportunities soon dried up after she dated an older meth head loser.

Zambuni lived with the man at a Box Hill motel after she was kicked out of her mother’s home in 2017.

The court was told Zambuni’s life took a downturn after she got addicted to hard drugs but stopped using meth in 2019.

Zambuni has a daughter to the meth head but no longer dates him, the court was told.

Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said Zambuni had an “appalling” driving record.

“That makes it worse (being aged 25),” Magistrate Zebrowski said.

“I don’t want to appear like I’m cold-hearted but it’s not like she came from a deprived background … she went to a pretty elite girls’ school in Kew, her parents probably sacrificed a bit to send her there.

”She had a good upbringing, she made the decision to have a relationship with some no-hoper and start using drugs, it’s not like she was abused as a child and grew up in Fitzroy poverty … “She had all the advantages … this is not a sad tale of someone who had no chance this is a sad tale of someone who made bad decisions in life, she should’ve known better …”

Zambuni, who now lives and cares for her grandparents in Research, has mended her strained family connections and her mum now assists with care of her daughter.

Zambuni’s lawyer asked the court to consider the minimum period of licence disqualification.

“She took the risk, she rolled the dice and lost …,” Magistrate Zebrowski said.

“They make decisions and when it fails they’re like ‘oh I need my licence’ … I didn’t pour whiskey down their throat and force them behind the wheel.

“She’s also disqualified, she also stated a false name, why should I consider the minimum.”

The defence also asked the court to consider an adjourned undertaking.

“It’s beyond that, she has appalling priors, it makes a mockery … in the end of the day she has to understand her actions have consequences …,” Magistrate Zebrowski said.

“She’s not a debutante, she’s not before the court for the first time, she’s got a lot of priors … where’s she’s just thumbed her nose at the court, well the time has come to pay the piper.”

Magistrate Zebrowski, who accepted Zambuni’s effort to be drug clean, warned that if she offended again then a jail sentence would be a “realistic” option.

“I have sympathy for her circumstances but she has to take responsibility … to err is human …,” Magistrate Zebrowski said.

“It’s only going to get worse for you, the time will come when you go to jail.”

Zambuni was fined $1100 and had her driver’s licence suspended for nine months.

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