The Court: Dandenong Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Daniel Walsh
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client had accumulated $30,714.20 worth of unpaid infringement fines over several years. The client was initially unaware of these fines but became aware of them after the Sheriff made contact with our client and issued an Enforcement Warrant. The infringements primarily consisted of toll and traffic-related offences, which had accumulated over four years.
The client had given his old motor vehicle to his mother to use during that period, as his employer had given him a company car. The vehicle was still registered under our client’s name, as his intention had always been to retain the car but loan it to his mother in the interim period while he had a company vehicle to utilise.
Unbeknownst to our client, his mother loaned the car to our client’s older brother, who had significant substance abuse issues and had been battling a drug addiction for 20 years. The client’s older brother had been using the motor vehicle and accruing several infringements. The infringements were addressed to our client, as the motor vehicle was still registered in his name.
At Court:
The client was arrested and bailed to appear in court. He attended our office and engaged our solicitor to appear and represent him. Our solicitor sought the client’s instructions, and the client provided a statutory declaration that he had prepared and signed, indicating that he had lent the motor vehicle to his mother during that period. His mother had also signed a supporting statutory declaration confirming that she had loaned the car to her eldest son without our client’s consent.
Our solicitor made submissions to the Magistrate on the day that our client was not the driver when the offences were committed, nor was he in possession of the car at the time, despite being the registered owner. The supporting statutory declarations were tendered to the court.
Our solicitor further submitted that our client, having to pay a total of over $30,000, would cause someone in his position extreme hardship, particularly given he was not the one responsible for the infringements.
The Outcome:
After hearing all the evidence and listening to submissions, the Magistrate was sympathetic to the client’s predicament and discharged all the fines under section 165(1)(a) of the Fines Reform Act 2014 (Vic). This meant that the client was not required to pay any of the outstanding fines totalling $30,714.20.
This was an unusual but outstanding result for the client.
