A Melbourne man caught driving at 180 km/h on the Calder Highway - and breaching COVID-19 restrictions - says he went for a drive to clear his head.
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Greenvale resident Callan Brilliant, 32, was sentenced in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Tuesday to 12 months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of four months for his offending on Monday afternoon.
A Bridgewater police officer was operating a mobile radar on the highway at Leichardt late Monday afternoon when he detected a BMW travelling at 130 km/h.
He turned on the police vehicle's emergency lights and attempted to catch up to the car.
The officer observed the vehicle overtake a truck and multiple cars at speed, and clocked the BMW travelling at 180 km/h.
The officer soon ended the chase, and advised police communications and other officers of the vehicle.
Officers from Inglewood later found the vehicle in Bridgewater and arrested Brilliant.
He handed over a small plastic bag he said contained ice, which weighed two grams.
Police discovered Brilliant was carrying a false licence and the registration plates on the vehicle were incorrect.
Brilliant was unlicensed and the registration on his vehicle had expired.
He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to dangerous driving while pursued by police, driving unlicensed, making false documentation, possessing methamphetamine, driving an unregistered vehicle, and using incorrect registration plates.
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Brilliant's lawyer, Alexia Frossynos, said her client had had a fight with his mother and went for a drive to clear his head.
She told the court Brilliant had ADHD and he found it difficult to fight his impulsivity, as well consider the consequences of his actions.
Brilliant had also used methamphetamine since the age of 18, Ms Frossynos said, and relied on it as a coping mechanism.
She said Brilliant was nine months into an 18-month community corrections order and he needed further treatment to address his drug dependency and associated behaviours.
Ms Frossynos submitted sentencing should be postponed and her client released from custody, to continue on the order and show he was serious about addressing his issues.
But magistrate Patrick Southey noted Brilliant had a lengthy history of driving offences, including several convictions for driving while disqualified and suspended, and dangerous driving.
Mr Southey said short terms of imprisonment and corrections orders had previously failed to deter him, and floated the prospect of imprisonment with a non-parole period.
"He's driving like a maniac, he's got drugs on him - protection of the community, I would have thought, would be the most important sentencing consideration," he said.
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Prosecutor First Constable Matthew Hendry said Brilliant's behaviour was "exeedingly selfish" and a 12-month sentence was not excessive.
But Ms Frossynos said such a sentence was quite harsh for the offending, and she was concerned it would not leave much room for Brilliant's rehabilitation.
However, Mr Southey said this was why he wanted him to serve a sentence with a period of parole, as parole was much stricter than a corrections order.
Brilliant served jail time last year and the year before that, he said, and it "taught him nothing".
"Mr Brilliant's behaviour is life or death stuff, he's going to kill someone sooner rather than later if he keeps it up," Mr Southey said.
He took into account Brilliant's early guilty pleas and said the offender would have faced up to 16 months in prison if it were not for them.
Mr Southey said parole might work to rehabilitate Brilliant.
"It's a much, much stricter regime, and you know if you muck up even once, you go back in for the balance of the sentence," he said.
Brilliant was fined $750 for using an unregistered vehicle, and banned from driving for 12 months.
He also received an infringement notice for breaching COVID-19 restrictions.
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