A former Shepparton man who led police on pursuits in Melbourne and Echuca and was found with drugs and weapons has been sentenced.
Razaq Al Hamzah, 28, pleaded guilty at Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to 39 charges including 12 counts of drug possession, failure to stop on police direction, dealing with suspected proceeds of crime, driving while disqualified, theft, reckless conduct endangering life, dangerous driving and possessing a prohibited weapon.
Magistrate David Faram called Al Hamzah’s behaviour “unbelievably risky and dangerous”.
“It’s lucky he or others were not seriously injured or worse as a result of the offending I’ve heard about today,” he said.
Al Hamzah was sentenced to 155 days in jail, already served, and released on a two-year community corrections order.
He was ordered to complete 150 hours of community work, assessment and treatment for drug abuse and dependency, with time spent in programs to be deducted from the work hours.
He was also fined $1000.
Al Hamzah faced court for multiple events spanning three years, including a single car accident in Shepparton that caused significant injuries to him and a passenger in July 2020.
His driver’s licence had been cancelled and he’d been disqualified from driving for four years in November 2018.
In August 2020 he was searched by police in Shepparton and found with a transparent fluid believed to be GHB, two zip-lock bags containing a crystal substance, two foldable knives and bank cards in other people’s names.
In a separate incident in Echuca on November 16, 2020, Al Hamzah evaded police, driving in excess of 120km/h on Ogilvie Ave, a 70km/h road, weaving in and around other vehicles.
In December 2020, he was a passenger in a car with two others that veered on to the wrong side of Sydney Rd, Melbourne, about 1am and crashed through the fence of a townhouse.
He and the other two associates ran from the car and were arrested a short distance away.
Police found a bag in the boot of the car with various credit cards in the names of different people, and a bag containing quantities of methamphetamines, amphetamines, heroin, oxycodone, ecstasy tablets and MDMA capsules.
After midnight on December 20, 2021, Al Hamzah evaded police in Faulkner, Melbourne, in a stolen silver Mitsubishi.
Al Hamzah was followed by police airwing and vehicles, driving at high speeds and on the wrong side of the road in Moreland and on the Ring Rd freeway, causing other cars to swerve to avoid him.
When he was eventually arrested, police found multiple drivers’ licences and bank cards in other people’s names, four mobile phones, a foldout knife and a liquid believed to be butanediol.
Lawyer Ian Michaelson told the court Al Hamzah’s drug use had been out of control but his recent time in custody had been a “wake-up call” and a circuit breaker from drugs.
He said Al Hamzah’s prospects of rehabilitation were better now he had the intention and will to give up drug use, which he said began after the breakdown of his marriage after six years.