Driver who repeatedly refused to take drug tests because he ‘didn’t believe in them’ gets ban and fine
Repeatedly refusing to take drug tests has ended badly for this driver after a court gave him a big ban and a large fine.
South East
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A mistrusting motorist who repeatedly refused to take drug drive tests because he “didn’t believe in them” has been hit with a big fine and ban.
The dodgy driver — who has a rap sheet extending over more than a dozen pages — declined to give saliva samples after being pulled up in his unregistered car.
On three occasions he failed an initial drug test and when asked to give an evidentiary sample he would refuse, saying what police were doing was “illegal”.
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Danny Noel Burnell, 41, pleaded guilty to seven charges at Frankston Magistrates’ Court today.
The court heard Burnell, who works for a trucking company, was caught speeding in his car at 89km/h in a 60km/h zone on Frankston-Flinders Rd in Somerville at 1.30pm on January 14 last year.
His car was unregistered with no plates, and an initial oral fluid test proved positive to drugs.
When asked to accompany police to the testing vehicle he repeatedly refused, saying “I don’t believe in them”.
Then on May 10 last year at around 2.50am he was seen driving out of the Seaford Hotel car park, again with no plates on his car.
Again he initially proved positive for drugs, and again he refused to accompany officers for a full test.
Just nine days later he was caught a third time after being observed by police in Langwarrin.
Again his car had no rego and he once more refused to take a full drug test, telling officers it was “illegal” as the tests “didn’t work”.
He also called police “f***ing clowns”.
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Burnell represented himself in court, saying he could not afford a lawyer and Legal Aid would not represent him.
He said he had been driving trucks for 20 years and tested 100s of times, and had “never come up with a positive”.
He said he used to use marijuana but didn’t anymore, and the initial tests may have been positive because he hung around people who smoked cannabis and he “may have ingested it”.
He also said he wasn’t driving trucks at the moment because he was on a disability pension due to a workplace injury.
Magistrate Dominic Lennon said Burnell had a bad history, committing a lot of offences over the years involving drugs, violence and a whole range of traffic crimes.
He was disqualified from driving for two years for the refusals, and for a further three months for the speeding. He was also fined $3000.
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