Drives whilst disqualified three times, manages to avoid conviction

R v JF

JF was charged with driving whilst disqualified in 2018. Chris Cole representd JF and his matter was adjourned in December 2018 so that he may obtain an interlock licence.

In the intervening period before this licence was obtained JF committed two further offences of driving whilst disqualified.

JF’s matter came before the Manly Local Court and Christopher Cole persuaded the presiding Magistrate not to record convictions against him. Instead he was sentenced pursuant to section 9(1)(b) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act and placed on three times Conditional Release Orders for the duration of two years.

This was an outstanding result for JF considering that he had re-offended two times. He was able to avoid a criminal record.

Charged with numerous serious drug and violence related offences, avoids prison term for Community Corrections Order

R v AC

AC was charged with numerous serious charges, including three counts of ‘stalk/intimidate with intent to cause fear of harm’, ‘use offensive weapon with intent to commit indictable offence’, ‘damage/destroy property’, ‘possess prohibited drug’ as well as ‘driving whilst disqualified’.

To make matters worse AC had also contravened a previous bond to be of Good Behaviour.

Matthew Berrell represented AC and the matter came before Katoomba Local Court. The presiding Magistrate accepted Berrell’s sentencing submissions and chose to impose a Community Corrections Order (CCO) on AC for a period of two years, as well as 200 hours of Community Service work and an order to continue receiving regular counselling sessions.  

This was a fantastic result for AC as he very easily could have been sentenced to a gaol term. Each charge of ‘stalk/intimidate’ carries a maximum sentence of five years, whilst a charge of ‘use offensive weapon’ carries a maximum sentence of seven years. Instead AC was able to remain in the community and receive ongoing mental health treatment.