Rosanna’s Toni Mrmacoski caught multiple times driving high on ice
He’s repeatedly been found driving high on methamphetamine, having caused a car crash and been seen going at excessive speeds. And a magistrate has likened him to something shocking.
North
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A Rosanna father who repeatedly drove while high on methamphetamine, ended up slamming into the rear of a car parked at a red light.
Toni Mrmacoski was told he was “of exactly the same ilk” as a driver who “killed a whole lot of innocent people” by driving through a red light while on methamphetamine, when he fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 27.
Magistrate Jennifer Tregent said Mrmacoski’s criminal behaviour was “most selfish” and continued to expose the public to danger.
“If he wants to use methamphetamine, of course he’s going to kill himself, but that is his voluntary choice to do so,” Ms Tregent said.
“But when he decides to take methamphetamine, get in a motor vehicle and drive at very fast speeds, that’s a completely different story.”
The court heard Mrmacoski had the drug in his system when he crashed into the back of a car stopped at a red light on Heidelberg Rd, Clifton Hill, about 8.20pm on September 4.
First Constable Irwin Ee said Mrmacoski was then found to be on methamphetamine when police caught him speeding at 79km/h on Warrigal Rd, Oakleigh on March 10.
Police then found an ice pipe in the rental car he was driving when they pulled him over in Heidelberg on May 11.
Constable Ee said the former shopkeeper told police he had smoked ice he got from a friend about 30 minutes earlier.
He was also wanted on six warrants for failing to answer bail, and had been caught driving on a suspended licence in St Kilda on October 2.
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The court heard Mrmacoski had breached two community corrections orders for previous offending, having failed one mandatory drug screen then having not turned up for subsequent tests.
Ms Tregent said she appreciated his lawyer’s argument that the father of teenage children was a victim of methamphetamine, but said help offered to him had been met with “a completely inappropriate attitude”.
But she was persuaded to give him one more chance at a community corrections order as he pleaded guilty to all charges.
“This will be your last chance,” she said.
Mrmacoski, who had been in custody for 16 days after an initial bail request was denied, was released onto an 18-month order with 120 hours of community work.
He was also fined $250 and his licence was cancelled for six months. Ms Tregent said the sentence would have been four months’ jail if he hadn’t pleaded guilty.