Bader Ismail: Teen driver disqualified after police pursuit in Hoppers Crossing
‘Are you… in the driver’s seat?’: A teen has lost his license while sitting the driver’s seat of his luxury car dialing into court – all in the name of snacks.
Wyndham Leader
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A teenage driver who led police on a dangerous high speed pursuit through the backstreets of the western suburbs has lost his license while appearing in court by conference call, sitting in the driver’s seat of his car.
The Mercedes-obsessed teen leadfoot, Bader Ismail, 19, appeared in the Werribee Magistrates Court by video link on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to a string of traffic charges including dangerous driving.
The court heard Ismail, a P-plate driver, floored the accelerator as he pulled out of a 7-Eleven on Morris Rd in Hoppers Crossing in August last year.
The officers went after Ismail, who was driving a dark coloured Mercedes Benz, clocking him at 97km/h in a 60km/h zone, and later at more than 85km/h in a 50km/h backstreet.
The officers stopped pursuing Ismail because of concerns the pursuit posed a danger to the public, and tracked him down by returning to the convenience store, where they seized security camera footage of Ismail buying snacks in the minutes before he sped off.
When police confronted Ismail, he said he tried to outrun them because he had been breaching lockdown rules, was unemployed and couldn’t afford to pay a fine.
Ismail’s lawyer, Aseel Sammak, said her client was an upstanding community member and had never been in trouble with the law.
Magistrate Kimberley Swadesir said Ismail put people’s lives in danger trying to avoid a fine for a less serious offence.
Just before Magistrate Swadesir sentenced Ismail and disqualified him from driving for six months, she looked up at him on a conference call screen, paused, and asked: “Are you in a vehicle right now?”
Ismail said: “Yes”.
Ms Swadesir said: “In the driver’s seat?”
Ismail said: “Yes”
When asked whether Ismail had somebody with him who could drive him home, he said he had not driven anywhere and was sitting in the car in his driveway.
Without conviction, Ismail was handed a 12 month good behaviour bond and ordered to take a road trauma awareness course.
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