John O’Toole, 40, from Shepparton, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to two counts of drug driving and two counts of unlicensed driving.
The first time O’Toole was pulled over by police was in a white Ford ute on Sutton Rd, Shepparton, on December 9, 2022.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Kerrie Thomson said that when pulled over, O’Toole didn’t have a driver’s licence and, when asked why he was driving, said he “just had to get to work”.
Sen Constable Thomson also said when asked if he’d taken any drugs, O’Toole said he had used ice recently.
A drug test tested positive for methamphetamines.
The second time O’Toole was pulled over by police was on Wills St, Shepparton, on March 22, 2023, in the same vehicle.
Sen Constable Thomson said that when pulled over and asked to show his driver’s licence, O’Toole said he didn’t have one and had never had one.
He also tested positive for methamphetamines on a drug test.
After this encounter, his vehicle was impounded for 30 days.
Representing himself in court, O’Toole said he shouldn’t have driven, but was going through a marriage break-up at the time.
O’Toole said things had improved now, and he had not used drugs for six months.
Magistrate Peter Mithen fined O’Toole $900 and disqualified him from getting a licence for six months.
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