Dandenong curfew breacher avoids $1652 Stage 4 lockdown fine after found drunk at Westall train station
PSOs found the Dandenong drunk in a happy state on a train at 10.15pm. He was merry with a magistrate too when told he didn’t have to pay the full $1652 fine for being caught breaking curfew.
South East
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A Dandenong drunk caught busting curfew has had a win in court and avoided paying the $1652 fine for breaching Stage 4 lockdown restrictions.
Mayol Giarang will instead only have to pay $600 – in instalments if he chooses – after a magistrate slashed his pandemic punishment penalty by over $1000.
At Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Thursday the 34-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of being drunk in a public place and breaching COVID-19 curfew restrictions.
The court heard at Westall railway station at 10.15pm the night before PSOs spotted Giarang swaying from side to side on a stationary train.
They tried to speak to him but he was slurry and incoherent, and he was placed in a PSO pod while police were called.
When officers arrived he was taken to Dandenong police station and lodged in their drunk tank for a few hours to sober up.
Giarang was unable to be interviewed due to his intoxicated state and was remanded in custody because it was believed he had breached bail.
Subsequent investigations revealed that he wasn’t on bail at the time and there had been an error on the police database.
His defence lawyer said he had already spent one night in custody that he didn’t need to because of the police mistake.
She said otherwise his crimes were only fineable offences and he shouldn’t be locked up any longer.
She said Giarang was on Centrelink payments and couldn’t afford to pay the $1652 curfew breach infringement.
She requested any penalty imposed be implemented through a Fines Victoria payment plan.
Magistrate Suzette Dootjes agreed a smaller fine was the appropriate punishment and said he could pay it through instalments if he chose to.
She released Giarang from custody, convicted and fined him $600 for the curfew breach and dismissed the being drunk in a public place charge without penalty.
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