Austin Richard King in Bathurst court for driving disqualified

Austin Richard King, 21, of Bentinck Street, Bathurst, will serve another six months without a licence after he pleaded guilty in Bathurst Local Court on March 22 to driving while disqualified.

Police were doing traffic controls at the intersection of Sydney Road and Boyd Street in Bathurst just before 11.15am on February 20, 2023, when they saw a Toyota sedan drive past, court documents said.

A check of the registration by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) database found it had expired earlier that month and the car was in the name of a disqualified driver, later confirmed to be King.

Police saw the car parked at a petrol bowser in 7-Eleven, so they stopped and asked King about the status of his licence and registration.

King told police his vehicle's registration had been paid by a friend and went to show police his licence by using the mobile phone Service NSW app but couldn't.

The court heard police did further checks in the RMS database which showed King had been disqualified from driving at Bathurst Local Court for three months, which would have finished at 11.59pm on February 20, 2023.

King's Legal Aid solicitor, Simone Thackray, said her client was doing his best to comply with the court order and said he had struggled following the death of his father in August 2022.

"He's not someone who just went out and drove regardless of the disqualification," Ms Thackray said.

Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis struggled to come to terms with how King thought it was ok for him to drive given the term was back-dated to the time of the original offence (November 11, 2022).

"You did the wrong thing, you deserve some punishment," Ms Ellis said.

In addition to the disqualification period, King was convicted and fined $800.

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