Some of the guilty pleas heard in Sunshine Magistrates Court this week
A Melton man spotted by a police chopper driving dangerously and a young driver clocked at double the speed limit were among those who pleaded guilty in court this week.
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A drink driver who crashed into the fence of a Melbourne west home and a young driver caught 69 km/h over the speed limit were among those who pleaded guilty in Sunshine Magistrates Court this week.
Read about their matters here.
Ryan Pham
An unlicensed drink driving mechanic who was three times over the limit when he crashed his car into the fence of a Melbourne west home told police he was not drunk and was dodging a car.
Ryan Pham was under the influence of alcohol when he crashed a vehicle into the fence of a house on Wilmot St, Delahey about 3am on September 3 last year.
Witnesses told police the driver exited the vehicle and gave details to on-scene paramedics before leaving the crash.
Pham returned home to get his wife as he did not speak English well and needed assistance.
He accompanied police to a nearby station and made admissions to drinking from 9pm to 2am, including at least four large VB bottles.
Pham told police the alcohol did not lead to the crash and claimed another vehicle was approaching in the opposite direction and he did not have time to brake.
When police asked him for his licence, his partner told them he did not have a current one.
On a subsequent alcohol breath test he blew 0.159.
In court, Pham said he was “getting old”, had not consumed alcohol for seven months and now suffered from high blood pressure.
Magistrate Amina Bhai said she was “deeply concerned” by the offending and noted he was in court for drink driving less than 12 months before the Delahey crash.
The court heard it was his fourth drink driving offence.
Ms Bhai said his offending endangered the community and it was fortunate no one was home at the time of the crash.
She said due to the nature and severity of the offending, and that Pham had been issued fines previously, she wanted him assessed for a community corrections order.
The matter was adjourned for sentencing later this month.
Jordan Raymond Farag
A magistrate has told a young driver he would be going to work for the next fortnight just to pay off a hefty fine after he was caught driving at twice the speed limit.
Jordan Farag was clocked by a fixed speed camera travelling 139 km/h in a 70km/h zone on Edgars Rd, Lalor about 9pm on May 20 last year.
When police attended his address the following month, the 20-year-old made admissions to driving the car but could not give a reason for his speeding, stating it was just his “mentality at the time”.
Farag’s defence lawyer told Ms Bhai that his offending was out of character and he had just returned to driving after a serious workplace injury.
He was fined $1500 and was disqualified from driving for the minimum 12 months.
No conviction was recorded.
Mara Giselle Gerbino
A driver with a disqualified interstate licence told police she did not realise the systems overlapped when she was caught driving last year.
Mara Gerbino was intercepted by police doing a U-turn near a Nolan St carpark at Maryborough on April 24 last year.
She told police she did not have a Victorian driver’s licence and was aware her Queensland licence had been suspended but thought the period had ended.
The single mother accepted the onus was on her to make sure she was eligible to drive but said she needed access to a vehicle at the time to care for her elderly mother as well as seek temporary accommodation.
She was fined $500 and no conviction was recorded.
Zane Nagy
A Melton West man pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle as well as possessing cannabis and a weapon silencer.
A Victoria Police helicopter requested assistance after they spotted a vehicle travelling dangerously along the Western Fwy at Ravenhall in the late evening on August 1, 2020.
The vehicle, registered and operated by Nagy, was first located tailgating vehicles at unsafe distances and overtaking them without indicating near Deer Park.
Police used landmarks to allege he was travelling approximately 149 km/h in a 100km/h zone about 11.20pm.
When he was intercepted by police he made no comment in relation to the alleged driving.
Earlier, on October 26 2019, police attended his Melton West address to conduct a welfare check after someone being contacted by a member of the public.
During this check, the former glazier could not be located but police identified and seized a number of items including 9.9 grams of cannabis, and a weapon silencer.
Checks revealed Nagy did have a gun licence and registered weapons at the time.
In court, Nagy said there was no excuse for his driving and he did not plan on repeating it.
He was fined a total of $550 for the driving, weapon and drug offences.
No conviction was recorded.
Amarpreet Singh
A mechanic caught speeding has escaped paying a fine and will instead make a donation after he claimed he missed the sign and did not intend to break the law.
Amarpreet Singh was clocked by a mobile speed camera travelling 98 km/h in an 80 zone on the Western Ring Rd, Deer Park about 8.25pm November 24, 2021.
The 25-year-old mechanic with no priors in five years of driving told the court he did not intend to speed and missed the sign indicating a reduced speed.
After initially proposing a $363 fine, Ms Bhai sentenced him to a 12 months adjourned undertaking and ordered he make a $75 donation to the court fund which supports a number of local charities.
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