By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Cranbourne man who falsely reported that his car was stolen after failing to stop at a random breath-testing station has been jailed.
Corey Ian Simmons, 29, who appeared via a prison video link at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 15 November, was driving while suspended when he drove away from police in Clarendon Street, Cranbourne 12 months earlier.
Police didn’t pursue Simmons due to a risk to public safety, the court was told.
He also pleaded guilty to driving an unroadworthy car with smashed rear indicator lights, bald rear tyres and a dangling rear bumper in November last year.
On the dashboard was an ice pipe, with containers of cannabis and meth elsewhere found in the car and a co-accused’s sock.
At the time, Simmons was driving while suspended.
Simmons was also charged with breaching an intervention order, and with other counts of possessing GHB and cannabis, driving without number plates, driving unlicensed and driving suspended.
The accused was still “quite young” with “not much life experience”, his lawyer said.
He had spent three months in remand – mainly during the riot lockdown regime – since his arrest, the court heard.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted that Simmons was assessed as suffering significant childhood trauma as well as drug and mental health issues.
Mr Vandersteen said he deducted one month from the jail sentence due to the hardship of being in remand lockdown.
“Why you’ve been sentenced to imprisonment is there comes a point of time that enough is enough.
“If there’s further offending, it does lead to this type of sentence.”
Simmons was jailed for four months, followed by a 12-month supervised corrections order.
The CCO included drug and mental health treatment.
Simmons was also disqualified from driving for 12 months – during which he had to show he wouldn’t drive and be a risk to the community, Mr Vandersteen said.
“You’re always going to struggle on these orders particularly if you go back to your drug use.”
