Burnout driver exposed online

A 28-YEAR-OLD man who performed a burnout on the highway outside a Toowoomba hotel in front of friends attending a wake has burnt a hole in his wallet after appearing in the city’s Magistrates Court.

Callum Wade Winfield’s dangerous manoeuvre might have gone unnoticed by the authorities had not one of his friends filmed the deed and posted it onto social media, the court heard.

Police prosecutor Chris Willson told the court Winfield had been attending the wake of a friend at the Blue Mountain Hotel on November 12, last year.

It was then that friends on the footpath outside the pub filmed him driving out onto the New England Highway about 3.30pm.

His black Holden Calais was seen to fishtail and swerve across the highway before doing a 360 degree spin with the back wheels striking the median strip, Senior Constable Willson told the court.

The burnout caused smoke to rise up from the car’s tyres, to the cheering of about 30 people on the footpath, he said.

When spoken to by police five days later, Winfield had been made full admissions, telling officers all those at the wake were motor vehicle enthusiasts.

Senior constable Willson said Winfield had seven pages of traffic history though most of the offending was speeding.

Winfield pleaded guilty before the court to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

His solicitor Chelsea Saldumbide, of McConnell and Saldumbide Lawyers, told the court her client had been attending the wake of a friend and all at the function belonged to a car enthusiasts group who ordinarily conducted such driving legally at a track in Ipswich.

However, on this particular day Winfield had thought it a good idea to send off his friend with a burnout.

Her client had a good work record, and he had organised a fundraiser for his deceased friend’s family which had raised $8000, she said.

Fortunately, the burnout lasted only about 20 seconds, and Winfield had since completed a Traffic Offender Program, she said.

He had already suffered the consequences of his actions and had his car impounded for 90 days, and he would have to find a new position with his work on hold as he would be losing his driver’s licence.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark told Winfield his traffic history was “appalling”.

Without recording a conviction, Mr Stark fined Winfield $900.

He also disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for six months.