Brandon Hart: Epping dad jailed for South Morang police chase

An Epping dad had the hide to complain jail time had forced him to miss his son’s birthdays and sister’s wedding. It earned him a nice telling off in court.

Brandon Hart committed new crimes while serving community corrections orders.

A violent Epping crook who’s repeatedly snubbed “merciful” court sentences and continued to commit serious crimes copped a spray from a magistrate.

Brandon Hart, 28, was sentenced to a total of nine months jail at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to a series of charges including dangerous driving and aggravated assault of a female.

Hart fronted the court via video link from prison, having been locked up since he led a dangerous police chase through South Morang on January 14, and denied bail.

He accelerated onto the wrong side of the road — into oncoming traffic — twice about 10am on that day after police tried to pull him over.

It was heard police were forced to turn their lights and sirens off after Hart began swerving onto the wrong side of the road because he was posing such a serious risk to others.

He was on two community corrections orders at the time, having only been released from jail about seven weeks earlier.

The court heard Hart had not complied with both corrections orders, which he had been handed for charges including aggravated assault of a female, behaving in a riotous manner, possessing a firearm and unlawful assault.

It was heard Hart was on his third attempt at one of the orders.

Magistrate Falla said Hart had been given “incredibly merciful” sentences for “incredibly serious” offences, noting it was “staggering” he’d only been given 88 days’ jail and a corrections order for a firearms offence.

Ms Falla said Hart had just flouted his nose” at the chances he’d been given, saying she had no choice but to resentence Hart to jail terms for the previous crimes to deter him and others.

“Specific deterrence looms large.”

Hart’s lawyer said the former boilermaker had lost his job, relationship and children since getting into drugs and criminal activity several years earlier, and had been in jail for three of four of one of his son’s birthdays.

Hart missed his sister’s wedding in February after he was denied bail.

“What did he expect was going to happen?” Ms Falla asked.

“Life goes on on the outside.”

Ms Falla sentenced Hart to several prison sentences, but ordered they run concurrently, and took into account previous jail time he’d served, meaning he would be due for release in about 12 weeks.

Hart was also fined $800 and his licence was disqualified for six months.