Evasion failed as fine set

A YOUNG dad who had been warned for riding a motorbike unlicensed fled from police when they caught him again less than half an hour later.

At 7.53pm on November 18, 2019, police spoke to Riley John Foxley-conolly, 20, after he was spotted riding the motorcycle, and warned him he was driving without a licence.

At 8.15pm, police saw Foxley-conolly driving along Anne Street in Aitkenvale without headlights on.

He failed to stop for police and instead sped off and wove around the backstreets of Aitkenvale to evade capture.

The Townsville Magistrates Court heard police staked out Foxley-conolly’s nearby residence. Prosecutor Catherine Ferguson told Magistrate Viviana Keegan that Foxley-conolly arrived at his home a few minutes later, and police questioned him and discovered the motorcycle was unroadworthy, lacking headlights and indicators.

Then just before midnight on January 21 this year, police saw Foxley-conolly swaying side-to-side, on foot, in the middle of the road on Thuringowa Drive “looking for something”, the court heard.

He pleaded guilty to 10 charges including evasion and fail to have proper control of a vehicle.

“In regards to being intoxicated on the road, his child threw something out the window and that is why he exited the car to collect it,” defence lawyer Jerrad Mace said.

Foxley-conolly was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and fined $1700.

He was disqualified from driving for four years but convictions were not recorded.