Man escapes conviction after driving whilst his licence was cancelled

Lawyer-in-charge: Lara Menon

Our client, a 57-year-old man with no previous criminal history, was charged with driving whilst his licence was cancelled. In December 2020, our client’s licence was disqualified for a period of 3 months, which was due to expire in March 2021. Our client received a letter from the RMS confirming this period of disqualification and did not state that following the period of disqualification he would be required to re-apply for his licence. Our client dutifully served his period of disqualification and re-commenced driving the following day. A

fter approximately 3 months of driving without realizing that his licence was cancelled, our client was stopped by Police for the purposes of a random breath test. When it was discovered by Police that our client’s licence was cancelled, our client explained that his disqualification period had expired in March. Although Police were able to confirm that our client was telling the truth, they still charged our client.

Despite being charged with a serious criminal offence, punishable by a term of imprisonment of 6 months, following submissions to the Court made by Lara, our client received a Conditional Release Order without conviction, with the only condition to be of good behaviour for 12 months.