Brodee Podetti jailed and disqualified from driving for the rest of his life

At just 18, a driver, whose own father was critically injured in a road accident, has been hit with a permanent licence disqualification after his already “appalling” traffic history was revealed.

A Bundaberg man has been banned from driving for life after being convicted for hooning and evading police in a high speed chase through a quiet Gympie neighbourhood.

Appearing via video link from Maryborough Correctional Centre, Brodee Podetti, 18, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday to offences including dangerous operation of a vehicle, driving when disqualified and evading police.

Police prosecutor Leon Casey told the court Podetti was shown on CCTV footage arriving in a vehicle at a Gympie hotel car park shortly after 9pm on February 26.

Podetti was disqualified from driving at this time and the registration plates on the vehicle he was driving belonged to a different car, the court heard.

Brodee Podetti was observed driving at high speed through a quiet Gympie neighbourhood, swerving violently into oncoming traffic while doing burnouts and narrowly avoiding collisions with other vehicles.

Soon after he entered the hotel, Podetti was shown again on CCTV footage running alone back to the vehicle, driving it out of the car park and stopping at a red light behind an unmarked police car, the court heard.

Mr Casey told the court the police officer driving the unmarked car moved slightly to the left to allow Podetti to move ahead of him, and observed Podetti revving the engine several times and then turning left through the red traffic light onto Exhibition Rd.

The officer activated the lights and sirens on his car and moved in behind Podetti’s vehicle, but Podetti failed to stop and accelerated heavily away from the police vehicle.

Podetti was observed driving at high speed along the road, swerving violently into oncoming traffic while doing burnouts and narrowly avoiding collisions with other vehicles.

The court heard Podetti was exceeding the 60 km/h speed limit in the residential area he was driving through, which included homes, a school, service stations and a hotel in the vicinity of his route.

Magistrate Edwina Rowan told Podetti he had an “appalling” traffic history, including hooning offences for which he was disqualified from driving and sentenced to 18 months in prison with immediate release on parole by Gympie Magistrates Court on January 23, 2024, just over a month prior to the offending currently being heard.

“You ... ought to have known that by driving a motor vehicle you placed yourself at very real risk of being returned to custody and sentenced to a further term of imprisonment,” Ms Rowan said.

“The only inference that I can draw is that there was a blatant disregard by you both for the orders of the court, the disqualification of your motor vehicle licence ... in addition to a blatant disregard for the safety of other road users.”

Brodee Podetti was disqualified from driving and sentenced to 18 months in prison by Gympie Magistrates Court for hooning offences just over a month prior to the offending currently being heard.

Podetti’s solicitor from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service told the court her client had a normal childhood until the age of 15, when his father was involved in a motorcycle accident which required 12 months’ hospitalisation for a serious brain injury.

Due to his parents having separated, Podetti had been subject to the pressure of being a carer for his father from a young age, the court heard.

Ms Rowan told Podetti his father’s accident should have given him a greater sense of responsibility when driving a vehicle.

“In those circumstances ... you should be someone who is acutely aware of responsible driving and acting in a way that does not have the potential to harm other users,” she said.

“But on this occasion, you did not and I have no clear reason as to why you decided to drive on that day, except that you are influenced by your peers in Gympie.”

Noting that the previous sentence had no effect on deterring him from dangerous driving, Ms Rowan said “it seems the only way that the court has been able to curb your offending is to sentence you to terms of actual imprisonment”.

Podetti was given a head sentence of five years’ imprisonment, and disqualified from ever again holding or obtaining a drivers licence.

With time served in pre-sentence custody Podetti will be eligible for parole on August 2, 2024.

He was convicted of two counts of driving while disqualified and one count each of dangerous operation of vehicle with two prior convictions, evading police at night, proceeding through a red traffic arrow and using a vehicle for which the number plate attached was for another vehicle.

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Originally published as Brodee Podetti jailed and disqualified from driving for the rest of his life