Jason Parks, Manos Marangoudakis, Matthew Cave and Siyu Yang front Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court
A man caught speeding well over the limit, two unlicensed drivers and a serial crook are the latest to appear in a Melbourne court.
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A man who was caught driving 47km/h over the speed limit and a man who used a stolen credit card to buy more than $5000 in clothing were among the latest to front the Moorabbin Magistrates' Court.
Jason Parks
A man has pleaded guilty after being caught doing 147km/h in a 100km/h zone.
Jason Parks fronted Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on February 14 after being caught driving almost 50km over the speed limit in 2022.
The court heard police saw Parks driving on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway between Centre Dandenong Rd and Lower Dandenong Rd on January 10 last year.
Driving through the Dingley Village precinct in a black Ford Coupe, Parks was charged with driving in a reckless manner and putting the public in danger.
His car was impounded and his licence was immediately suspended.
The court heard that when asked if he thought driving at 147km/h an hour was a safe thing to do, Parks responded to police “not really”.
Magistrate David Starvaggi fined Parks $550 and cancelled his licence.
Manos Marangoudakis
A Dandenong North man caught driving while suspended has pleaded guilty to multiple charges in Moorabbin Magistrates Court.
The court heard the charges related to two incidents, including driving while suspended in 2021 and possession of drugs of dependence in 2019.
Manos Marangoudakis, 59, was pulled over by police on November 22 in 2019 while driving a white Ford Falcon sedan.
The court heard Marangoudakis appeared drug affected during the traffic stop leading to a search of the accused and his car.
The court heard investigating officers discovered a zip-lock bag containing 0.05g of methamphetamines and a blue pill, identified as Sildenafil or Viagra.
The court heard Marangoudakis told police the drugs “weren’t his”.
Marangoudakis was ordered to undertake a drug treatment course, and failed to do so, subsequently breaching a community corrections order.
The court heard that the second incident occurred on December 14, 2021 in Clayton, when police again pulled over the accused in an unregistered car.
The court heard Marangoudakis admitted to police he was aware of his licence suspension, but was assisting a friend move house.
Marangoudakis’ lawyer Jonathan Brancato told the court he had made efforts with the previous order put in place, but had struggled to keep up with its requirements.
“He’d hoped it would just go away, your honour,” Mr Brancato said.
“Obviously with these things they don’t.”
The court heard Marangoudakis was a de facto carer for his mother and was unemployed.
“Mr Marangoudakis is currently on Newstart allowance,” Mr Brancato told the court.
“He shouldn’t have an issue paying a fine, and he is willing to fully engage with an appropriate CCO.”
Magistrate David Starvaggi said he couldn’t avoid a conviction, but would not suspend Marangoudakis’ licence further.
Marangoudakis received a total of $2500 in fines and was convicted of all three charges.
Matthew Cave
A St Kilda man has pleaded guilty to eight charges after being in custody for 61 days.
Matthew Cave, 39, appeared in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on Valentine’s Day, pleading guilty to charges including possession of methamphetamines, trespassing with the intent to steal, dishonestly obtaining property and committing indictable offences while on bail.
The court heard Cave was seen acting strangely in Grey St, St Kilda on April 30 in 2021.
After calls to emergency services, Cave was approached by police and searched at noon.
The court heard police uncovered two zip-lock bags in a black satchel carried by Cave, one containing an amount of methamphetamines and the other with heroin.
The court heard during an interview regarding the incident Cave was asked if the drugs were his.
“No comment,” was his response.
Cave went on to offend again in July 2022 while on bail.
The court heard Cave and two others attended Chadstone shopping centre, and while using a stolen credit card, purchased more than $5000 from Adidas and Culture Kings.
The court heard CCTV footage caught both purchases in full, where Cave bought clothing, bags, umbrellas and a watch.
Cave was caught offending a third time on December 15, 2022 with three other men, in Dorcas St, South Melbourne.
The court was told a witness heard banging in a laneway behind their office at 3.35pm and looked out the window to investigate.
The person saw a white Subaru Outback with three men all in fluoro vests.
The court heard the men were transporting wheelie bins filled with copper between the building and the Subaru’s boot.
The witness called police, who attended and arrested Cave and his co-accused.
The court heard there was photos and CCTV footage showing the accused moving the copper filled wheelie bins between the building and the car.
Police searched the building at the time of the incident, and discovered significant damage to the building’s roof where copper had been cut out from multiple areas.
The court heard officers also found a number of power tools and hand tools during the search.
When searching the accused, the court heard officers also found an amount of Butanediol (used to make GHB) in one of Cave’s pockets.
Cave had been in custody for this offending since being arrested on December 15.
Magistrate Starvaggi took into account Cave’s priors and 61 already served in his sentencing decision.
“I’m sentencing you to 61 days jail, taking into account time served,” he said.
“You should be released soon Mr Cave.”
Magistrate Starvaggi said Cave’s guilty plea had also played into the reduction of his sentence.
“If you hadn’t pleaded guilty today, you would have incurred an 80-day sentence.”
Siyu Yang
A man pleaded guilty to driving while suspended, claiming he “never received notification from VicRoads”.
Siyu Yang fronted Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to driving unlicensed after being pulled over by police in a Parkdale carpark in 2022.
On August 25, police officers witnessed a car travelling into a carpark in the southeastern suburb and scanned the number plates, discovering Yang had been unlicensed.
Police approached the vehicle and spoke to Yang.
The court heard Yang claimed he had “no idea” that his licence had been suspended.
Yang, representing himself in the hearing, told Magistrate Starvaggi that a neighbour with sticky fingers was to blame.
“I live in an apartment building, and our mail has been getting stolen,” he said.
“I’ve not received a significant amount of mail and had a new credit card stolen because of this.”
Yang’s licence had been suspended for three months in October 2022 due to excessive demerit points.
Magistrate Starvaggi said he had taken into account Yang’s guilty plea and lack of priors.
“I’m going to fine you $250 with no conviction and no further suspension.”
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