Dean John Costa pleads guilty to traffic offences, cocaine possession in Noosa court

An apprentice mechanic has been warned by a magistrate to get hooning out of his system. Read about his run from police at the Noosa Reef Hotel.

An apprentice mechanic who caused traffic havoc also did a runner from police in a Noosa pub after pretending he needed to go to the toilet.

Dean John Costa, 27, of Tewantin pleaded guilty to a number of charges including driving without due care and attention, evasion, obstructing police and drug possession.

Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist labelled him a hoon, fined him $7400 and disqualified him from driving for two years.

Costa appeared in the Noosa Magistrates Court on August 23, 2022.

Police prosecutor Phillip Stephens said that on January 26, 2022, police were driving in an unmarked car in Tewantin when they saw a Ford Fairlane belonging to the defendant perform a U-turn and looked at the defendant behind the wheel.

Sergeant Stephens said the police activated their lights and sirens and followed the defendant onto Poinciana Ave.

Dean John Costa outside the Noosa Courthouse.

They saw the car cross over to the wrong side of the road to overtake a vehicle before pulling back into the correct lane, forcing the vehicle it just overtook to pull over.

Police stopped following the defendant and visited his home in March, 2022, where he abused police as they questioned him about the January incident.

The police prosecutor said on April 3, 2022, officers found Costa at the Noosa Reef Hotel and told him he was under arrest because earlier in the day members of the public had witnessed the defendant and another person doing burnouts and crash into a parked car.

The sergeant said the defendant told police he needed to go to the toilet but instead of visiting the bathroom he ran off.

“Police saw him running along Noosa Dr and was called out to ‘stop’ but he didn’t stop and continued to run,” Sergeant Stephens said.

The police prosecutor said he was eventually arrested.

Sergeant Stephens said that on August 1, 2022, police pulled over a car in which Costa was a passenger, searched him and found 2g of cocaine.

Solicitor Anna Smith said the reason the defendant drove away from police in January was because he was supposed to have an interlock device on his vehicle.

She said the apprentice mechanic and the business that employed him would have to adapt to the inconvenience of Costa not having a licence for at least two years.

The solicitor said the defendant had no drug history but had issues with alcohol.

“They’ve raised their head again in the last year, with the death of his grandma who he was very close with and other personal issues,” Ms Smith said.

The solicitor said Costa had a mental health plan and had visited a psychologist.

Mr Stjernqvist said the defendant was “a long way” from a responsible member of the driving community.

“You’re a hoon, you want to get that out of your system and you have no respect for pedestrians or other road users,” he said.

He sentenced Costa to 80 hours of community service along with the fine and disqualification.

Convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Dean John Costa pleads guilty to traffic offences, cocaine possession in Noosa court