A Ballarat man has escaped a licence suspension after posting a series of videos to social media doing burnouts and skids on a Harley Davidson motorcycle across Ballarat.
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Marc Phillips, 40, appeared at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Monday to plead guilty to several driving offences, including careless driving, the improper use of the motor vehicle and reckless conduct endangering life.
The charges come after a series of incidents where Phillips was driving his motorcycle with several other riders in the towns of Clunes and Beaufort.
The court heard on November 2, 2021, Phillips was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle in Beaufort in the company of 25 other riders.
The group stopped in the middle of Fraser Street, Clunes' main street, and Phillips did a burnout, rotating the motorcycle a full 360 degrees and continuing down the street.
Similar offending occurred in Beaufort on February 8, 2022, where Phillips did two full 360 degree burnouts, leaving two black tyre marks on Havelock Street.
Each incident, and others in Redan and Wendouree, was recorded and uploaded to two Instagram pages.
Phillips also pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury after a separate altercation at a car wash in Wendouree.
The court heard at about 12pm on January 29, 2022, Phillips was involved in an argument with a worker at the car wash on Creswick Road about whether he could wash his tow truck at the site.
A bystander intervened in the argument, prompting Phillips to jump out of his truck and push the bystander into a nearby vending machine.
The bystander's forearm was cut due to the fall.
Phillips again pushed the bystander by the neck after their regained their footing, after which they called the police.
Phillips told the police the bystander had a bleeding arm prior to the altercation, a version of events which was disputed by CCTV footage which captured the incident.
A co-accused for Phillips offending, who filmed the burnouts, had been previously given a $2000 fine without a licence suspension on December 2022.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz said parity - equality of sentencing for similar offences - was important in this case, and would not suspend Phillips' licence.
"You are 40 years of age, you are too old to be engaging in behaviour that we commonly see in 20 year olds, honestly," Ms Mykytowycz said.
"The fact that you have had your licence for some time means that you may have better control of the vehicle than the 20 year old, but you are still putting the public, yourself and the other motorcycle riders in danger."
However Magistrate Mykytowycz said she would impose an additional penalty for the car wash attack.
"You should have walked away. Instead you got out of the truck, you engaged not just once... but twice, and far more seriously when you grabbed him around the neck area and pushed him," Ms Mykytowycz said.
"It is serious offending, in a public place, against people going about doing their job.
"Whether they have verbally engaged with you, it doesn't matter, you have stuck out when you should have walked away."
Phillips was fined $2000 with conviction, and sentenced to a 12 month community corrections order with 60 hours of community work.
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