Yass Court House
Bond for driving with loaded rifle on ute seat
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COURTS: A Yass man driving with a loaded rifle on the seat had accelerated away from police because he was violently ill and needed a toilet, Yass Local Court has heard.
David Brian Skillin, 33, of Yass, pleaded guilty of keeping a firearm unsafely and failing to notify of a change of address on his licence, in relation to the May 2 incident.
A third charge of possessing a loaded firearm in a public place was withdrawn.
Police went to stop Skillin for a random breath test at 11pm on May 2 in Comur Street, Yass. However, he accelerated away and continued to ignore police as they called out to him as he entered his home.
“Police went up to the door and knocked numerous times with no response. A short time later the accused’s de facto came to the door and informed police that the accused was on the toilet as he was ill,” police told the court.
“Police informed her that they would wait… And the accused called out from inside the premises, ‘honestly mate, I’m shitting blood in here, I’ll be out when I can’.”
While waiting the police noticed two rifles sitting in Skillin’s ute cabin. One was sitting between the two front seats and the other was resting on the front passenger seat.
When Skillin came to talk to the police ten minutes later, he said both rifles were registered and that one was owned by his nephew.
He said he had been recently hunting on a property with the permission of the owner. He told police the rifle was still in a loaded condition.
Checks revealed an empty cartridge in the chamber and four live rounds in the magazine.
He told police the only reason he drove away in that manner was due to illness and he needed a toilet.
He said about the loaded rifle, “it’s a mistake, I was a professional roo shooter for almost ten years so I know how to be safe with rifles.”
Police returned the other gun to the owner.
Skillin’s firearms licence was suspended by police.
Magistrate Caroline Huntsman found the matter proved without proceeding to a conviction, and placed Skillin on a six-month good behaviour bond.
Low-range drink driving
Declan Bryn O’Rourke, 23, of Curtin, ACT pleaded guilty of low-range drink driving at 10.50am on June 14 at Albury street, Harden.
He returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.074.
He told police he had consumed 12 schooners of beer and four cans of Jim Beam and Coke between 4.30pm and 1am while at a pub in Barellan.
He was fined $400 and had his licence disqualified for three months.
Phone thief convicted
Christopher Micheal Benton, 44, of Yass, pleaded guilty of breaking, entering and stealing after an iPhone was stolen from the window sill of a local business.
The court heard police stopped Benton’s vehicle for a random breath test at 10pm on January 29. They found two knives, a container with green vegetable residue inside and an iPhone with a photo of two girls on the home screen, inside a large carry bag in the car.
He was charged with possessing a knife in the public place.
Benton could not identify the girls in the phone’s photo when asked to by police, however the officer recognised one of the girls and she later identified the phone was her property.
During a follow up visit from the police Benton admitted stealing the phone when he noticed it charging on the window sill, so he broke the window and took it.
He was convicted and placed on an 18-month good behaviour bond.
$800 fine for fraud, failure to update car ownership
Amanda Lee Dallen, 32, of Lake Illawarra, has bee fined $800 on charges of failing to notify authorities about a change of vehicle ownership, failing to give information about the driver of a vehicle used in an offence and fraud for failing to pay for petrol.
Police told the court a man filled the vehicle with petrol at Yass Service Centre on April 20 but left without paying the $44.02 due.
Police attended Dallen’s address on June 23 in relation to the matter, but she advised them her cousin had sold it to a mate soon after she purchased it herself earlier in the year.
She had assumed the new owner would update the registration details.
She told police she did not have a licence and only purchased it to turn a profit on resale.
Papers indicate she took possession of the car on March 11.
Mid-range drink driver
A drink driver had tried to evade police by turning off her headlights and pulling into a driveway, Yass Local Court has heard.
Kelsey Simone Dowling, 23, of Bowning, was convicted of mid-range drink driving in relation to an incident on August 14.
Police said a marked police car did a u-turn to perform a random breath test on Bowning Road at 7pm.
However, the driver had turned her headlights off and continued travelling 200 metres until she pulled into a residential driveway.
When asked why she turned headlights off, she told police, “because I’m in serious trouble. I’m sorry”.
Police learned she did not live at the home and had only travelled there to avoid being stopped for a breath test.
She had a blood-alcohol level of 0.110.
She was convicted and fined $400 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Roadworks speedster disqualified for 12 months
Justin Robert Eddieston, 24, of Ngunnawal ACT, was convicted of driving recklessly, furiously or at dangerous speeds through the Barton Highway roadworks at Murrumbateman.
A charge of speeding more than 45km/h over the roadworks limit of 60km/h was withdrawn.
Police were patrolling near Euroka Avenue in Murrumbateman when they saw his car speeding an estimated 140-160km/h through the roadworks zone.
Police did a u-turn and followed the vehicle, which “continued north at high speed and was approaching a semi-trailer logging truck [also] travelling north. Due to a crest, police lost sight of the vehicle for about 20 seconds, during which time the vehicle had overtaken the semi-trailer despite double unbroken lines”, they told the court.
Eddieston was forced to slow down behind traffic at Murrumbateman village, where he was stopped by police.
When asked if he knew how fast he’d been driving, he told them “about 150, a bit less maybe.”
He tested negative to a breath test.
He said he was running late for work and apologised to police for his actions.
Magistrate Caroline Huntsman convicted him, fined him $500 and disqualified his licence for 12 months.
Driving while disqualified
Ryan Kenneth Everingham, 24, of Monash ACT, has been convicted and fined $200 for driving while his licence is disqualified.
The accused was stopped by police for speeding on the Barton Highway at Yass at 7.18am on August 4.
He was unable to produce his licence but provided his details. Due to communication issues the results of police checks did not come through before they allowed him to continue on his way.
Twenty minutes later he was stopped again, on the Hume Highway at Bowning. Police spoke to him again and again he could not produce his licence.
It was found to have been disqualified for six months since June 29 after a conviction in Goulburn Local Court for driving with illicit drug present in his blood.
Everingham told police he hadn’t attended court that day but conceded it was likely his licence had been disqualified.
His licence was disqualified for 12 months.
Illicit drug driver fined $200, disqualified six months
A provisional driver has pleaded guilty of driving the morning after taking cannabis.
Rodney Shane Freeman, 26, of Yass, was charged with driving with an illicit drug present in his blood, on Yass Valley Way, on July 10.
Police pulled him over for a random breath test at 10.28am.
He tested negative to alcohol but positive for an illicit drug.
Told police he’d taken cannabis the night before.
The court heard he was initially pulled over on February 28 and fined for not complying with provisional licence passenger restrictions. He lost seven demerit points, causing his licence to be suspended by the Roads and Maritime Services between July 24 to October 23.
Freeman was again pulled over on June 28, and he told police of his impending licence suspension and confirmed the dates with police.
However, at 1.45pm on August 4 he was caught driving again. He told police that the matter had been sorted out with RMS and that his licence had been reinstated, however he could not produce evidence of this.
For this matter his licence was disqualified for three months and he was found guilty without proceeding to conviction.
Cannabis smoker fined $400
A Yass man has been convicted and fined $400 for possessing cannabis.
Janmhar Getuya, 35, was pulled over by police at 2pm on August 12 and subjected to a drug test because officers smelt cannabis emanating from the vehicle.
A search of vehicle revealed a pink plastic container under the driver’s seat that contained five pieces of aluminium foil containing cannabis.
He told police, “it’s choof. It’s for my own personal use.”
He made full admissions and when asked why he individually packaged the drugs, he replied, “it helps me see how much I’ve smoked and how much I have left”.
The drugs weighed 23.3g.
Driving while suspended
A Yass woman has had her licence disqualified for 12 months after pleading guilty of driving while suspended.
Olivia Goddard, 21, was found stopped in a designated bus zone outside a local school at 8.45am on August 5.
She had told police it was cold and she was dropping her kids off at school.
Police checks revealed her licence had been suspended due to medical reasons.
Magistrate Caroline Huntsman found her guilty without proceeding to a conviction, and disqualified her licence for 12 months.
Domestic violence
A 41 year-old Yass man pleaded guilty of assaulting his wife causing her actual bodily harm during a domestic violence incident at their home on June 17. He was found guilty without proceeding to conviction, and placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.
A 42 year-old Yass man pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and one of destroying property during a domestic violence incident against his partner on August 18. He was convicted and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.
A 23 year-old Yass man pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and one of intimidating/stalking with the intention of causing fear or harm, following a domestic violence incident with an ex-girlfriend on August 29. He was placed on a good behaviour bond for 12 months.
A 48 year-old Murrumbateman man has been placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and ordered to undergo Community Corrections supervision after a domestic violence incident against his wife on August 21.
*Offender names and details of the incidents have been withheld because it may identify or endanger the victims.
The following matters were dealt with in Yass Local Court before Magistrate Caroline Huntsman, on September 8 2015.
