A LATE payment on a fine snowballed into another court appearance for a woman, who was told by a magistrate it is time to "grow up".
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Danielle Marie Davis, 44, of Molloy Drive, Orange stood before Bathurst Local Court on July 19, 2023 where she pleaded guilty to driving an unregistered vehicle while disqualified.
Court documents state police were doing patrols near the intersection of the Mitchell Highway and Cashens Lane in Vittoria about 3.45pm on June 30, 2023 when they saw a white Clio Renault travelling east.
As they followed the car, police did checks on the vehicle's registration, which showed it was cancelled through fine default.
Police then stopped the vehicle at the intersection of the Mitchell Highway and Oakey Creek Lane.
Davis - who was behind the wheel - was asked for her licence, which had expired on January 4, 2023.
Police asked Davis about the status of her licence before they found she was disqualified at Orange Local Court from driving until December 13, 2026 for mid-range drink-driving.
She was then disqualified for a further 18 months after another drink-driving incident in Bathurst in November of 2022.
Davis told police she had ordered a new licence, and spoke with people at the RMS who said her registration was fixed.
Sentence
A self-represented Davis told the court she - as outlined in a duty sentencing assessment report - struggled to manage stress, which had contributed to the offence.
"I just started to feel like I had my life on track," Davis said.
"I had paper to say I had my licence back ... I was late on a payment for one of my fines, but I thought it was resolved."
Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis said it was "excellent" Davis had accepted responsibility for her actions, but said "the fact you keep offending is the problem".
"Please grow up," Ms Ellis said.
Davis was placed on a community correction order for one year.
She was also disqualified from driving for a further six months.
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