By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A MAN who violently scuffled with police last month after he was jailed for persistently driving without a court-ordered alcohol interlock device has faced court again.
Vincent Jean-Paul Manuel pleaded guilty to driving with false plates, expired registration and without an interlock at a hearing at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Monday 31 August.
Defence lawyer Rachel Hopkins told the court that the offence in Hampton Park on 13 April could have been consolidated with others heard by the court two weeks earlier.
At that earlier hearing, Manuel was jailed for two months, disqualified from driving for a year and fined $1500 on six counts of driving without an interlock in Narre Warren and Doveton between September 2014 and May.
He also pleaded guilty to several counts of driving with false plates, driving unregistered, failing to answer bail, ice possession and resisting arrest.
At the time of his offending, he was serving a community corrections order for driving without an interlock device in 2013.
Ms Hopkins said her client had been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress – stemming from being stabbed in the head in 2007.
He had also been injured in a car crash in 2013.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said Manuel was “a lot calmer” than he was at his previous court appearance – a reference to the accused repeatedly yelling expletives and struggling with police officers after he was sentenced last month.
He said Manuel’s offending was “unforgiveable” given his history of drink-driving.
It was an issue of “public safety” – though Mr Vandersteen noted there was no alcohol or crashes involved in the April incident.
“Hopefully this will be the last time you have to be in court.
“It shows if you keep pushing the boundaries it leads to imprisonment.”
Manuel was sentenced to 21 days’ jail, served concurrently with his two-month imprisonment.
He was convicted and fined $600.
