From Ballarat to Bendigo, Mildura to Melbourne, Victoria’s wildest bogan hoons laid bare – part one
They have smashed into buses, torn up soccer pitches and even taken a midnight lap of the Grand Prix track – meet Victoria’s worst — and dumbest — hoons.
From meth-addled maniacs to monkey bike menaces, Victoria’s worst — and dumbest — hoons have turned the courts into a circus, a bogan hall of shame stretching across the entire state.
One driver launched her car 35m at 165km/h, another flipped the bird after ploughing into a Commodore, while a Ballarat tiler went on a nine-month spree of stolen cars and police chases.
There have even been brewery bosses busted four times the limit, a TikTok biker who slammed into a bus, and even an F1 tragic who fanged his Mazda around the Grand Prix track at midnight.
This is Victoria’s hoon hall of shame. The dumbest, wildest and most dangerous drivers from across the entire state, from Ballarat to Bendigo, Mildura to Melbourne.
Sarah Stanford in wild Bendigo police pursuit
Bendigo woman Sarah Stanford pleaded guilty after injecting GHB during a Christmas Day police chase while already on bail for another drug-fuelled pursuit.
Stanford was behind the wheel of a vehicle with “obviously fake plates” as she sped down the wrong side of Nelson St towards Eaglehawk Rd, California Gully through oncoming traffic when police tried to intercept her.
She was convicted and released on a deferral of sentence — her 20th time granted bail.
Hoon destroys southeast soccer club pitch with burnouts
Baxter Soccer Club players took a police investigation into their own hands, jumping in a car and following a hoon they caught tearing up their pitch.
Club president Bray Hodgkinson said members were shocked to walk out of the clubrooms just after 10pm on Thursday to discover a white 4WD doing doughnuts on the grounds.
Not keen to let the driver escape, Mr Hodgkinson and a friend hopped in the car, following him to a home nearby.
He estimated the cost to fix the damage to the pitch and walking track more than $10,000.
“Luckily from what we know, (the driver) didn’t clip any of the sprinkler systems — there was no irrigation damage,” Mr Hodgkinson said.
The incident was reported to police.
Wangaratta teen’s burnout causes emergency fire response
A burnout in a Wangaratta driveway ended in dramatic scenes when fire trucks arrived to put out what witnesses thought was a fire, a court has heard.
Alex Beurs, 18, fronted Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to driving charges.
Beurs revved the engine loudly, lost traction of the wheels and created “extremely large amounts of smoke” when he did a burnout in a driveway on Burke St in Wangaratta.
Three Fire Rescue Victoria units responded to the reports of smoke and smell of burning rubber.
Beurs’ car was impounded and he was sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond without conviction.
Killer Melbourne hoon’s reign of terror after death of beloved mum
A notorious Melbourne hoon, who was previously jailed for hitting and killing a mother-of-two outside a shopping centre while riding an illegal monkey bike, faces another stint behind bars over dangerous driving and attacking police.
In September 2015, Caleb Jakobsson created headlines and anger after leaving mum Andrea Lehane to die after hitting her with his monkey bike at Carrum Downs.
This past July Jakobsson pleaded guilty to 33 driving and drug-related offences at Melbourne Magistrates Court.
In one incident Jakobsson was spotted driving a stolen car at Frankston at speeds up to 159km/h, before he rammed a police car and sped off.
Drugged-up Ballarat tiler in car theft spree
A drugged-up serial thief swiped three cars while on a community correction order, driving one through a heritage-listed Sebastopol mansion with police in pursuit.
Delacombe tiler Bradley Keirl, 28, faced County Court after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, exposing police officers to risk, three counts of theft, damaging property, and unlicensed driving.
He entered the wrong side of a roundabout, went on the wrong side of the road for about 50m, and smashed through two sets of gates at Club Wyndham in Sebastopol.
Keirl’s car eventually flipped and landed on its side against a power pole.
F1 fan took car out for midnight hot lap of Albert Park track
A leadfoot Formula 1 fan has been hit with a massive fine after taking his sports car on a late night hot lap of the Albert Park Grand Prix circuit.
Michael Au-Duong, 29, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to a single count of speeding, after he was caught driving his Mazda sports car along Aughtie Dr just after midnight on February 9 this year.
The road — which remained open to the public — was in the middle of set up for this year’s Grand Prix.
A speed camera clocked Au-Duong at 109km/h.
NDIS support worker slammed for ‘suicidal’ behaviour on the road
A young support worker clocked doing 160km/h on his way to the gym has been told he could go to jail for his “suicidal behaviour”.
Febin Francis Manappatu, 22, appeared in Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty speeding and driving without rear “P” plate displayed.
Manappatu drove into West St, Hadfield, where he sped through a roundabout doing 120km/h in a 50km/h zone.
Manappatu, an NDIS support worker, then zoomed through Edgars Rd in Thomastown, doing 160km/h in a 100km/h zone.
Meth addict nicks cop car and slams into another vehicle doing 160km/h
A meth addict drove a stolen police car at speeds of 160km/h before slamming into a vehicle at an intersection, nearly killing its driver.
Matthew Herrere, 30, pleaded guilty in the County Court to a string of offences that began with an aggravated burglary in Glengarry.
When his co-accused was arrested, Herrere jumped into the driver’s seat of an unmarked police car, driving erratically through Yallourn North, where he almost collided with another police car.
He reached speeds of 160km/hr and collided with a Holden Rodeo at the intersection of the Princes Highway and Hazeldean Rd.
Street racer leaves Bendigo man lying in the street after hit-run
Jake Gray was street racing another car along Lawson St about 10pm on March 30, reaching speeds of up to 130km/h in a 60km/h zone, when they came tearing out onto Spring Gully Rd.
The other driver braked suddenly and Gray swerved, hitting pedestrian Shane Keely who was standing in the roadway with his dog Nixon just metres from his home.
The Bendigo roof painter was thrown over the bonnet and roof, and left lying in the roadway with bone protruding from his leg.
Gray fled the scene without stopping to call an ambulance, going home to hide the evidence of his involvement by replacing a damaged mirror and headlight.
When questioned by police he gave fake information before later making a full confession.
TikToker motorcycle hoon narrowly escapes death after Doncaster bus crash
A young motorcycle show off, who posted his dangerous riding videos on Tik Tok, had a life-threatening wake up call when he slammed into a stationary bus.
Over a period of several months, Bobby Duffin posted dozens of Tik Tok videos of himself riding his black Yamaha motorcycle dangerously throughout Melbourne.
The then 18-year-old recorded himself riding at speeds up to 200km/h, performing dangerous stunts and riding in proximity to other road users.
In the videos, Duffin often flipped his registration plates backwards to avoid identification.
The Sunbury teen’s stunt spree ended when he crashed into a parked bus in Doncaster.
