Fourth disqualified driving offence in five years puts Toowoomba man behind bars

The disqualified driving offence was deemed the most serious of the 15 charges to which he pleaded guilty.

It was the 45-year-old’s fourth disqualified driving offence in five years.

A FOURTH disqualified driving offence in the past five years has put a Toowoomba man back behind bars.

Fabian John Townsend had been pulled over by police while driving on Ruthven St about 9.40am, December 5, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

A check of his driver’s licence by police found that he had been disqualified from driving for two years by the same court on May 22 last year, police prosecutor Chris Willson told the court.

A search of the vehicle found he had a knife which he told police he forgot was there, some cannabis seeds, a glass pipe for smoking cannabis, a set of scales for weighing the drug and two “loaded” syringes containing a clear liquid substance, Senior Constable Willson said.

Police also found inside the 45-year-old’s bag a vehicle’s number plate which had been reported stolen from Dalby in May, he said.

The car he had been driving at the time had been found to be unregistered and uninsured, he said.

Townsend had been given watch house bail on those matters with the condition he report to police each Monday and Thursday, but he had failed to report on seven separate occasions.

Police who attended his Toowoomba home on Monday had found him hiding in a bedroom cupboard, Snr Const. Willson said.

Townsend, who had spent the night in custody, appeared by video link from the watch house to plead guilty to all charges.

Snr Const. Willson said Townsend had received jail terms for previous like offending.

His solicitor Michael Corbin told the court his client had been sentenced to a four and a half year jail term in August 2018, and he had a full-time release date on that sentence as of October 5, this year.

His client had endured a long struggle with drug use, Mr Corbin submitted.

Noting his parole had been suspended and he had been returned to prison, Acting Magistrate Roger Stark sentenced Townsend to 12 months in jail to be served concurrently with his current sentence and ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole as of August 3 this year.