Brakes on man in van

Driver should not have been on road

A GEELONG apprentice tradie was living in his van but might have to find a new home after again being ordered off the roads this week.

However, Jarred Darlington was keen to avoid the prospect of state-funded accommodation at Her Majesty’s pleasure when he appeared in Geelong Magistrates’ Court this week.

The 22-year-old apprentice carpenter was planning to represent himself but quickly found legal representation after learning his repeated driving offences could land him in jail.

The court heard his probationary licence was suspended when he crashed his vehicle into another car that was stopped at an intersection on Swan Bay Rd in Wallington on Christmas Eve last year. “It’s just pure luck no one was injured, and I think there ought be consequences.”

Both cars were written off in the crash, Darlington telling police “I just didn’t see her (the other vehicle)”.

A 22-year-old New Zealand native, he had his licence suspended for the accumulation of demerit points six weeks earlier, making this offence the fourth time he had been caught driving when he should not have been behind the wheel.

But the court was told he had not received the letter from VicRoads because he lived in his van, not at the Preston address on his licence.

His lawyer asked Magistrate Ann McGarvie not to suspend the man’s licence — which was reinstated months after the crash — telling her he was “in that vulnerable position of living in his car”.

However, prosecutor Senior Constable Chris Capuano highlighted the seriousness of the crash and the repeated offending.

“It’s just pure luck no one was injured, and I think there ought be consequences,” Ms McGarvie said.

On charges of careless driving and driving while suspended, the defendant was ordered off the roads for a month and fined $1000

MAGISTRAT E ANN McGARVIE