Time to stop drugs and offending expectant father told by court

He was now working and in a stable relationship and the couple was expecting their first child together.

The man was placed on probation to help him get away from drug use.

A 25-year-old Toowoomba man with a history of drug use has been placed on 18 months probation to help address his drug problem.

Daniel John Schafer’s criminal history comprised of mostly drug related offences, police prosecutor Sergeant Natalie Bugden told Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to seven offences including:

Pawning an Apple MacBook Air at Pennywise for $250 on November 21, the device having been reported stolen during a break-in of a Valeview home in May last year;

failing to provide a statutory declaration that he hadn’t been the driver of his mother’s car which sped away from a police patrol at traffic lights on Bridge St on June 11;

driving while disqualified by court order and with cannabis in his system when pulled over by police on North St on October 16;

failing to appear in court on October 20, later telling police he had forgotten the court date after so many adjournments; and

stealing $349 Makita power tool from Total Tools in McDougall St on November 11 which had been captured on the store’s CCTV cameras.

His solicitor Brad Skuse, of David Burns Lawyers, told the court his client was now working as a concrete labourer and was in a stable relationship with the couple expecting their first child although his client had a child from a previous relationship.

A term of probation could be good for his client, Mr Skuse submitted.

Magistrate Kay Ryan placed Schafer on 18 months probation to include random drug testing, fined him $250, ordered he pay total restitution of $599 and disqualified him from driving for two years and three months.