Roman Kerdel admits to getting high in court break after pleading guilty to long list

A notorious Aspendale Gardens motorist who drove his motorbike at cops and was caught speeding at 170km/h has made a shock admission in court.

Roman Kerdel was seen by cops in an unmarked police car speeding at 170km/h on the Nepean Hwy.

A motorist with a horror driving record has admitted taking drugs during a lunch break at court while he faced another slew of charges

Roman Kerdel, 26, pleaded guilty at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on July 9 to 23 charges, including dangerous driving, endangering a police officer while on duty, theft and more.

Looking down the barrel of a community corrections order, Kurdel made a shock admission during his assessment.

The court heard the Aspendale Gardens apprentice electrician had taken drugs during the court lunch break, leaving him unable to continue being assessed.

The shock admission followed a slew of offending relating to drugs and dangerous driving.

Kerdel began his offending with petty theft from the Chelsea Heights Mitre 10 in 2021.

He was later turned in by his partner in crime, who identified him on CCTV footage.

Kerdel was later in a motorbike accident on December 28 in 2021 where he collided with a car on Bay Rd in Cheltenham.

The court heard he had been driving a bike with stolen plates while his licence was cancelled.

Kerdel was hospitalised where he tested positive for methamphetamines.

He was hospitalised after a motorbike accident where test results showed he had been driving under the influence of methamphetamines.

His dangerous driving escalated in May 2022, when police saw him riding a motorcycle – again with a cancelled licence – at an estimated 170km/h in a 100km/h zone.

Just a month later, cops saw him driving again, this time going 120km/h in a 80km/h zone on the Nepean Hwy.

When police approached him, Kerdel revved his motorbike and drove at the cops.

The court heard an officer was able to get him off the bike, before arresting and searching him.

An extendible baton was discovered in his jacket pocket with a knife, which he claimed was for “self defence”.

He was again driving unlicensed, this time on an unregistered bike.

Kerdel was caught for the final time in a stolen car in December 2022, after he went through two red lights and was swerving through traffic erratically in front of an unmarked police car.

The Air Wing tracked him to a Springvale Rd address, where he was later arrested.

Air Wing police tracked Kerdel in his offending, following him to a Springvale Rd home. Picture: Mark Stewart

Not limited to dangerous driving, Kerdel used a fake ID in July 2023 to pick up an electric scooter worth $3849, in order to pay off an outstanding drug debt.

Cops raided an Edithvale property where he had been living in January this year, where they found cocaine, meth and 1,4 butanediol , alongside three imitation firearms, ammunition, multiple stolen passports and other forms of ID.

In court on Monday, Kerdel’s lawyer Kymberley Skillen told the court her client “wants to rehabilitate, but every time he comes out of treatment he has fallen back into the wrong crowd”.

The court heard Kerdel began using methamphetamines when he was 18 after a “bad breakdown”.

He spent 46 days on remand earlier in the year.

Magistrate Jelena Popovic returned to court on July 10 to sentence Kerdel.

He was sentenced to 40 days time served and ordered to complete a 20 month community corrections order.

His licence was also cancelled and disqualified for three years.