Love bug to jailbird: Paul Robinson at court after crazed dash to see lover
A man jailed for a brutal massage parlour armed robbery has been given more time behind bars after running his car off a Coldstream road while making a mad 120km/h dash to see his angry girlfriend in a bid to save the relationship.
Outer East
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A leadfoot Lothario jailed for a brutal massage parlour armed robbery has copped more time behind bars after he sped and ran his car off the road in his haste to patch things up with his angry girlfriend.
Paul Robinson, 31, of Rowville pleaded guilty at the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on June 18 to dangerous driving risking death or serious injury, drug driving, driving without a licence and failing to report an accident following the 2017 incident.
He was busted by police after he was seen flying at 120km/h in an 80km/h zone along Maroondah Highway in Coldstream about 11am on February 26, 2017, according to court documents.
Police estimated he reached speeds of up to 160km/h as he overtook 12 cars, the documents noted, and police tried to intercept him but couldn’t even come close.
“Police intended to intercept the accused but after turning around, never got within a few hundred meters of the accused,” the documents noted.
“Police (then) lost sight of the accused vehicle.”
Seconds later a witness told police they saw Robinson’s car run off the road after he failed to turn in time at a right-hand bend.
The car took out a power pole and hurtled through a wire fence before coming to rest in a paddock.
Police later found Robinson walking east along Maroondah Highway after he left the totalled car in the paddock and set off to find his lover on foot, according to court documents.
He was arrested and taken to Lilydale Police Station where he tested positive for methamphetamine and told police his reason for speeding was to visit his girlfriend.
“I had to go, like, see my girlfriend,” Robinson told police according to the court documents.
“Me and my girlfriend have been fighting the last couple of days. I was just going to see her, work stuff out pretty much.”
Robinson also told police he’d “freaked” and run off following the accident, and he didn’t realise he was speeding because he thought he was travelling at the same pace as other cars.
Magistrate Tim Walsh sentenced Robinson to seven months’ jail, fined him $500, cancelled his licence and disqualified him from driving for six months.
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Mr Walsh ordered the sentence be served concurrently with a seven year and seven month maximum sentence imposed on Robinson by the County Court a day earlier on June 17 for the brutal bashing of a woman at a Glen Waverley massage parlour in August last year.
Robinson also pleaded guilty to theft, car theft, breaching a corrections order and a raft of deception charges dating back to 2017.
He must serve at least five years’ of his County Court sentence before becoming eligible for parole.