By Cam Lucadou-Wells
An alleged bail-runner who had driven unlicensed for the past 30 years has been refused bail.
Nolan Corn was intercepted by police after allegedly speeding at 104 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on South Gippsland Highway, Clyde about 2.30am on Tuesday 24 July, a court heard that day.
Police told the court that the unlicensed driver with a “substantial criminal history” had four warrants for his arrest for failing to appear on bail since 2015.
A police remand liaison officer said Corn admitted to never having had a driving licence, but gave no reasons as to why he offended and failed to attend court.
“He continually goes into hiding when he is charged with police matters,” the officer told the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court bail hearing.
“It’s my opinion that he will continue to commit offences on bail and he just won’t turn up.”
One of Corn’s outstanding court matters included charges of speeding by more than 45 km/h, dangerous driving, unlicensed driving, drink and drug driving, trafficking and possessing ‘ice’ and possessing ecstacy in 2015.
In the same year, he was charged with receiving stolen goods, unlicensed driving, driving an unregistered vehicle and using a fraudulent registration label.
In October 2017, he was charged with failing to stop for police and unlicensed driving, and bailed at Narre Warren police station.
Corn appeared at the next two adjourned Dandenong Magistrates’ Court hearings but failed to show for court in January 2018, police say.
At the bail hearing, Corn, facing 19 charges, represented himself from the dock.
“I didn’t have anywhere to live for a while there,” he told the court.
“I was very much into the drugs then, Your Honour.
“When you’re like that you don’t take consideration of what’s right and what’s wrong in your life.”
For the past 12 months, he’d lived at a static address, he said.
“I want to try to do anything you want to give to me (in terms of bail conditions),” Corn told magistrate Tara Hartnett.
Ms Hartnett said that the conditions weren’t the issue. Rather, it was whether Corn would show up for court.
She noted his priors for driving unlicensed dated back to 1989, including a jail stint in 1998.
“And you get found driving a vehicle – that’s the difficulty.”
Corn was unable to meet the ‘exceptional circumstances’ test for bail.
He was also an unacceptable risk of not appearing in court and committing further offences on bail, Ms Hartnett found.
Corn was remanded to appear at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 6 August.
