A WOMAN has been jailed for 12 months after she rammed a Bendigo police car to avoid arrest.
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Rebecca Sawka, 28, was sentenced in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Wednesday after she last week pleaded guilty to charges including damaging an emergency service worker vehicle.
Magistrate Sharon McRae said the lengthy jail term was warranted as Sawka had an "absolutely appalling" driving history.
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The court heard Sawka rammed a marked police car on October 15 last year after officers tried to arrest her for an outstanding theft charge.
The 27-year-old also collided with a parked van in the Lansell Square carpark in Kangaroo Flat before she sped away on the Calder Freeway.
Sawka was disqualified from driving at the time of the offending.
Defence lawyer Louise Conwell told the court Sawka was this week sentenced in the County Court to 10 months in jail for a robbery charge.
Ms Conwell said there were still 74 days of Sawka's pre-sentence detention that had not been reckoned as served.
Ms McRae said while Sawka would get the benefit of those remaining days, she would not be released from custody on Wednesday.
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The magistrate said Sawka had 27 prior convictions for driving offences, which was "absolutely appalling".
Ms McRae noted on several occasions, the offences stemmed from Sawka trying to avoid arrest.
The magistrate said Sawka had been given many opportunities on community corrections orders and "fairly light" prison sentences.
Ms McRae said a jail term with a parole period could act as a "circuit-breaker" for Sawka's pattern of offending.
Sawka was convicted and jailed for 12 months, with a non-parole period of six months. Her 74 days of pre-sentence detention was reckoned as already served.
Sawka's licence was cancelled and she was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
If she did not plead guilty, Sawka would have been jailed for 14 months with a non-parole period of eight months.
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