Brendon Clay Giffin, 28, sentenced in Warwick Magistrates Court for driving, drug offences

A Southern Downs father has been slammed for having a ‘blatant disregard for the law’ after facing court for drug and driving offences.

Brendon Clay Giffin, 28, narrowly avoided jail time over horrendous traffic offences  (Photo: Supplied)

A Southern Downs father with an “awful traffic history” has narrowly avoided a prison sentence after racking up a raft of traffic offences.

Brendon Clay Giffin, 28, pleaded guilty to a raft of 10 traffic and drug charges in Warwick Magistrates Court on July 22.

The charges span a period of months, starting in early 2024.

Police prosecutor Sarah Bartholomew told the court Giffin “simply cannot abide by a court order, and shows continuous blatant disregard for the court and himself”.

“He has previously appeared for drug driving and he has no consideration for road users, within a month in 2021, he breached an order for drug charges,” Ms Bartholomew said.

“He has blatant disregard for the law and has continued to commit offences.”

Six of the ten charges occurred while Giffin was on bail for other offending, defence lawyer Clare Hine said.

On one occasion in 2024, Giffin was busted by police in a dodgy vehicle and had given police a false name, saying he was “waiting for his brother” and that he “wasn’t aware of having false plates” on his vehicle.

The father of two was “in and out of work” and had worked occasionally with the Salvation Army, Ms Hine said.

On another occasion between March and June, Giffin was busted with a gram of meth, 0.8g of cannabis and a pipe, only adding to his three pages of criminal history and four pages of traffic history.

“He is very aware of the serious nature of the offending and there is no excuses,” Ms Hine said.

Giffin pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing drugs, and one charge each of possessing used drug utensils, driving disqualified, unlawful use of a vehicle, using plates from another vehicle, driving uninsured vehicle, driving unregistered, driving unlicensed, driving unregistered and driving with plates from another vehicle.

Magistrate Janice Crawford said Giffin’s traffic history was “absolutely awful” and his criminal history was “poor”.

“You have two young daughters and a job, given these charges were during a suspended sentence you could serve custody,” Ms Crawford told the man.

“I hope the possibility of custody will be enough for you to pay attention to the laws and the court’s orders. You will be in custody if you return, this is your last chance.”

Giffin was sentenced to a concurrent sentence of nine months’ imprisonment, released on parole immediately.

The man was also taken off the road for a total of three years, with all seized property forfeited.

Convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Brendon Clay Giffin, 28, sentenced in Warwick Magistrates Court for driving, drug offences