Obiri Yeboah, John Birt and Chynade Lynch appear in court over driving and theft charges
A soon-to-be mother appearing in a court in Melbourne’s southeast after stealing a motorbike and driving disqualified has been told she needs to “do better” by a magistrate.
South East
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It has been another busy week in the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court, as a motorcycle thief, a disqualified driver and a truck driver of 50 years join the list of driving offenders to appear.
Chynade Lynch
A woman who stole a $5000 motorcycle, helmet and gloves with a disqualified licence while on bail has been given a second chance to get things right.
Chynade Lynch, 25, who is now pregnant, appeared in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court via video-link from Horsham on June 8 to be sentenced for theft, driving without a licence and breaching bail conditions.
The court heard Lynch had spent time in prison over similar offences, before being released on a community corrections order in September last year, where her licence was disqualified for four years.
In court on Thursday, Lynch was sentenced for further offending in January of this year, where she stole a motorcycle, helmet and gloves to the value of $5000 and drove the bike while disqualified, all being in breach of her CCO.
Magistrate Stephen Lee called her offending “egregious,” citing the fact that she failed to even try to engage with the original CCO.
“This is really an egregious breach from the start,” he said.
“You were sentenced for similar offences and received 41 days prison, a CCO and a four year cancellation of your licence. When you were released you haven’t even attempted to complete the CCO.”
Mr Lee told Lynch that he accepted her personal circumstances had been at the centre of her offending, but that she needed to pull up her socks.
“You’ve got a poor record, but time is still on your side and you need to start doing better,” he said.
“I accept the context of your offending, that you were in a violent relationship and were introduced to drugs, but you’ve told the court that you’re now pregnant and not taking drugs anymore.”
Mr Lee said Lynch was lucky, as she was at the top end of being a youthful offender.
“I think you’ve got good prospects of rehabilitation in the future with some maturity I think you’ll gain with the responsibility of caring for a child,” he said.
“I’m going to impose another CCO for you today, take it seriously, don’t breach it.”
Mr Lee ordered Lynch to complete a 12 month CCO, inclusive of 70 works hours for the theft and driving disqualified and 30 hours for breaching her original CCO.
He also suspended her licence for a further three months to be served concurrently with her current four year disqualification.
Obiri Yeboah
A man caught driving unlicensed in an unregistered car has told a court it was due to a misunderstanding.
Hampton Park man Obiri Yeboah fronted Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on June 6, pleading guilty to charges of driving unlicensed and unregistered.
Mr Yeboah was caught by police on Neerim Rd in Murrumbeena in December last year, when a number plate scan showed his car to be unregistered by two days.
During the traffic stop, officers discovered he was also driving unlicensed.
Mr Yeboah said he knew he’d lost his licence, but thought he could continue driving until his next court date.
In court on Tuesday, Mr Yeboah reiterated that he was unaware that he couldn’t drive after being suspended in November for speeding.
“The officer said to go home and ring VicRoads, so that’s what I did,” he said.
“I was meant to appear in court in November but I didn’t go because I didn’t get the notification or the details for the date.”
Mr Yeboah said he had been moving houses at the time of the court date, and thinks the mail wasn’t delivered to him.
He then said he hadn’t responded to an email, causing him to remain suspended until the next court date.
“I was supposed to reply to an email that gave me permission to drive until a re-hearing,” he said.
“I didn’t reply so I was driving around thinking I had permission when I didn’t.”
Mr Yeboah said he had been summoned earlier due to a driving offence, but that it wasn’t him driving the car, and he had failed to nominate the other driver.
Magistrate Felicity Broughton blamed the comedy or errors of Mr Yeboah’s disorganisation.
“This is just bad organisation, all of these things could have been avoided,” she said.
“You’re not the sort of person who needs to be before a court. Make sure your registration is paid and you nominate other offending driver if it’s not you.”
Ms Broughton fined Mr Yeboah $500 without conviction and no further orders to his licence.
John Birt
A long time truck driver charged with entering an intersection on a red light has claimed he was already over the line before the light turned red.
John Birt pleaded guilty in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on June 6 to entering an intersection on a red light, despite having a fairly common reason.
“I’ve been a truck driver for more than 50 years, and I’ve only had one infringement in that time,” he said.
“I’m only here because the infringement is so severe and I don’t think I should have to pay it when I was already in the intersection.”
The court heard a traffic camera had snapped him in a Springvale Rd intersection 0.8 seconds after the traffic light had turned red in May last year.
He wasn’t aware that he had gone through a red light until the fine came in his mail.
Magistrates Felicity Broughton weighed up the context of Mr Birt’s predicament.
“You’ve obviously got an impeccable record,” she said.
“In these circumstances, I’m going to dismiss the charge. I have no control over the demerit point situation, that is a matter for VicRoads.”
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
