Test driver just kept on riding away

WHEN Paul Charles Young turned up to test drive a motorcycle for sale in Harristown he had handed over a wallet as collateral.

He had told the bike’s owner that his identification details were inside the wallet which he could hold until he returned from test driving the bike.

However, the 32-year-old had no intention of returning the bike which the owner discovered when he opened the wallet to find nothing inside, the Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

A week later Young was spotted by police on the bike and he had gone to flee but dropped the bike instead and he was nabbed after a foot chase.

Young appeared by video link from the prison to plead guilty to fraud and unlawful use of a motor vehicle arising from that incident as well as to a string of other offences including evading police, stealing, driving while under licence suspension and four separate counts of drug-driving on June 10, July 15, August 3, August 11.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark noted on three of those occasions Young had meth and cannabis in his system while on the fourth occasion it was meth alone.

Young’s solicitor Amber Acreman told the court her client had drug issues but the 74 days he had spent in presentence custody had been a good opportunity for him to get clean of drugs.

Her client had been brought up by a mother who had significant drug issues leading to mental health problems.

Her client upon release intended to return home and help his sister care for his mother, Mr Acreman said.

Mr Stark declared the 74 days pre-sentence custody as time already served and sentenced Young to nine months in jail but ordered he be released on immediate parole and disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for periods of six months to two years.