Lachlan Phillips: Drugged, banned driver nabbed while high 5 times
A 28-year-old junkie Boronia P-plater with a “deplorable” driving record and even managed to ram a cop car with his motorbike.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A joy-riding junkie P-plater nabbed drug-driving five times has been jailed.
Lachlan Phillips also led police on dangerous pursuits, on one occasion colliding with a cop car on his motorbike, and was caught trafficking drugs.
This was all while the Boronia 28-year-old was on bail and meant to be doing a community corrections order.
Phillips pleaded guilty to more than 20 driving, drugs and weapons charges at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
The court heard he was seen riding a motorbike with false plates in Wantirna in August last year.
When officers in an unmarked car pulled up in front of him at a red light he accelerated towards the police vehicle and hit the driver’s door.
He then tried to flee but was taken to the ground.
Phillips, who tested positive for drugs, was disqualified from driving a car at the time and has never held a motorbike licence.
In July last year police came across Phillips helping to jump start a mate’s car in Wantirna South.
His car rego had expired and he was disqualified and sped off before police had a chance to talk to him.
He then did illegal U-turns in front of oncoming traffic before coming to a stop and running off, but he was soon caught down a side street.
In June last year drug squad officers raided his Rowville bungalow, finding cannabis and jars of 1-4 Bute, and when cops looked at his phone they uncovered texts relating to trafficking.
In September last year he was seen walking in an area of Glen Waverley known for high drug activity with three bags of cannabis and two bottles of 1-4 Bute in his satchel.
In April last year he was sat in the driver’s seat of a parked car in Endeavour Hills badly substance-affected with a knife in his glove box.
In November 2019 he was nabbed driving in Endeavour Hills with ice and cannabis in his system and later the same month in Beaconsfield he tested positive for cannabis and ecstasy.
He then proved positive for ice in December 2019 in Cranbourne North.
He was arrested again in February this year in the back of an Uber with cannabis, and as he had breached bail, he was remanded in custody.
His lawyer said his client had longstanding issues with drugs and his trafficking was supplying to his friends.
He said the time he had spent in custody had been “an eye opener” for him and he was “determined to make a go of it” when released.
Magistrate Tony Burns said Phillips was a danger on the roads.
“Clearly your driving was deplorable,” Mr Burns said.
“You have five counts of drug driving and also dangerous driving, effectively ramming a police vehicle.
“This was a particularly bad spree.”
Phillips was jailed for six months, minus 52 days he has already served, and placed on an 18-month drug-based community corrections order.
He was also fined $1500 and disqualified from driving for 36 months.
