A man who faced court on a plethora of driving and drug charges, including being caught driving without a licence four times and drug driving twice, has been placed on a community corrections order and fined $2500.
Darby Floyd Schmuck, 27, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to two counts of drug driving, three counts of driving while suspended, driving while disqualified, three counts of driving an unregistered vehicle, using false number plates, driving without number plates and driving a vehicle displaying incorrect number plates.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon, two counts of possessing methamphetamines, possessing a drug of dependence, possessing cannabis, using methamphetamines, two counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail, contravening a bail condition, and failing to answer bail.
Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Anna Hanlon told the court Schmuck was caught drug driving with methamphetamines in his system in Riverview Dve, Kialla on March 31 last year, and again in Elizabeth St, Mooroopna on May 24, 2021.
On August 2 last year Schmuck was caught driving on a suspended licence in Numurkah Rd, Shepparton.
The court heard that 20 days later he was again caught driving while suspended, driving an unregistered vehicle and having false number plates on his vehicle.
A week later, police picked up Schmuck riding a motorbike with a cancelled registration in Shepparton.
The motorbike was missing a number plate and Schmuck had been disqualified from driving.
The court was told that on March 5, police found an extendable baton — a prohibited weapon — in Schmuck’s bag in a Shepparton hotel room.
On April 16 he was seen by police driving in Welsford St, Shepparton with number plates that did not match his vehicle, before he turned into an off-street car park, turned off his lights and parked as he tried to avoid police, Leading Sen Constable Hanlon said.
When they searched the car, police found a small bag of methamphetamines — weighing 0.44g including the bag.
Schmuck was also on bail at the time, and his vehicle was impounded.
Thirteen days later, when police were searching a Shepparton house at which Schmuck was living on an unrelated matter, they found 2.74g of methamphetamines, as well as cannabis and ‘1,4-Butanediol’ in his bedroom, and a flick knife under his bed.
Schmuck’s solicitor John McNamara said his client’s relationship with his partner had broken down just before the drug driving charges and that he had “hung out with the wrong people and started using methamphetamines”.
He said his client was in a better place now, living with his mother, working and was in a new relationship.
Mr McNamara said the time when Schmuck had failed to appear in court, on July 29, was due to issues getting the online court system — Webex — working correctly.
In sentencing Schmuck, magistrate Jonathan Klestadt said last year and earlier this year the accused was clearly “in a situation that was completely out of control”.
However, he noted Schmuck had a “fairly limited” criminal history and had spent four days in custody between being arrested and the matter resolving in court.
Schmuck was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, which will include treatment for drug abuse and dependency, as well as him participating in other programs to reduce reoffending.
He was also fined $1000 on the three charges of driving while suspended, as well as $1000 for driving while disqualified and $500 for failing to appear in court.
Schmuck was also disqualified from driving for 18 months, backdated to July 11 last year when his licence was taken off him by police.