At EAS Legal, we recently represented a 49-year-old male client before the Seymour Magistrates’ Court, who was charged with driving offences, including driving without a licence.
This matter presented a significant challenge. Our client had a long and serious prior history for similar offending including more than 15 prior convictions for the same conduct. On previous occasions, when represented by other lawyers, he had been sentenced to terms of imprisonment for identical offences.
Compounding the difficulty, the current offending represented an escalation in seriousness, meaning our client was facing a very real risk of returning to jail.
Rather than allowing the matter to default to a custodial outcome, our team undertook a comprehensive sentencing strategy, including:
We carefully reframed the narrative from one of repeat punishment to one of accountability, reform, and practical future compliance.
Despite the client’s extensive history and the fact that similar offending had previously resulted in jail the Court accepted our submissions and imposed:
This was an exceptional and rare result, particularly given the volume of prior offending and the fact that past sentences had involved actual prison time.
Courts generally impose increasingly harsh penalties for repeat driving offences — especially where an offender has previously been imprisoned. Achieving a non-custodial sentence and preserving a client’s licence in these circumstances reflects:
Most importantly, it allowed our client to avoid further incarceration and maintain essential mobility for work and daily life.
At EAS Legal, we specialise in defending clients charged with repeat driving offences, driving while suspended or unlicensed, and other serious traffic and criminal matters.
We regularly appear in the Seymour Magistrates’ Court and courts across Victoria, achieving outcomes others often consider impossible.
