Our client pleaded guilty to four counts of driving while disqualified, each prosecuted as a subsequent offence, and the Elizabeth Magistrates Court suspended the whole of the prison sentence it imposed.
Each count was a charge of driving while disqualified under section 91(5a) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 (SA). The maximum penalty is 12 months imprisonment for a first offence and 3 years imprisonment for a subsequent offence. All four drives happened during one demerit point disqualification, within a little over two months, and our client had an earlier conviction for driving while disqualified from many years before.
The question was never whether imprisonment was available. It was whether the court would suspend it. The court imposed 5 months and 18 days imprisonment and suspended all of it on an 18 month good behaviour bond.
Outcome at a glance
- Four counts of driving while disqualified under section 91(5a) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 (SA), each prosecuted as a subsequent offence
- Heard in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court
- Sentence reduced by 30% for the guilty pleas
- 5 months and 18 days imprisonment, wholly suspended
- 18 month good behaviour bond in the sum of $300
- No time in custody and no home detention
Background
Our client was disqualified from driving after accumulating demerit points. During that single disqualification, police detected him driving on four separate occasions over a little more than two months.
The four drives were not identical. On some occasions he was unsure when the disqualification started or ended. By the later drives, he knew he should not have been driving, and we did not suggest otherwise.
His only earlier conviction for driving while disqualified related to an offence committed many years before. It still counted, and each new charge was prosecuted as a subsequent offence, but it did not show a recent pattern of driving while disqualified.
The law: the offence, the penalty and suspension
Section 91(5a) makes it an offence to drive a motor vehicle on a road while your licence or learner’s permit is suspended (other than a suspension under section 38 of the Fines Enforcement and Debt Recovery Act 2017) or while you are disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence or permit. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for 12 months for a first offence and imprisonment for 3 years for a subsequent offence.
Under section 96 of the Sentencing Act 2017 (SA), a court that has imposed a sentence of imprisonment may suspend it, if it thinks good reason exists, on condition that the defendant enters into a bond to be of good behaviour and to comply with the bond’s conditions. The court first decides that imprisonment is the right sentence, and only then asks whether there is good reason to suspend it.
Guilty pleas to summary offences, and to minor indictable offences dealt with in the same way, attract the reductions set out in section 39 of the Sentencing Act. The size of the reduction depends on when the plea is entered.
Why imprisonment was a real risk
Four charges, each a subsequent offence, and later drives committed with knowledge of the disqualification made this a serious case. The courts treat contumacious driving, meaning driving in deliberate defiance of a disqualification, seriously. Our case note on Halsey v Police [2026] SASC 38 explains how the Supreme Court approached imprisonment and suspension for driving while disqualified, and our guide Will I go to jail for driving while disqualified? sets out the sentencing risk.
A submission that a fine or an ordinary bond was the right result would not have been credible. The realistic submission was that imprisonment could be imposed and then suspended.
Our approach
1. Accept the hard facts
We accepted that there were four separate drives, that the later ones were committed with knowledge of the disqualification, and that a sentence of imprisonment was open. Conceding what could not be disputed kept the court’s attention on the real question: suspension.
2. Put the earlier conviction in context
The earlier conviction was relevant, but its age mattered. We asked the court to treat it as an old matter rather than as part of a recent course of offending.
3. Deal with each drive on its own facts
We did not present four offences as one. We set out what our client understood about his licence on each occasion, which separated the early drives, where he was unsure of his dates, from the later ones.
4. Show what was not alleged
None of the four drives involved dangerous driving, a police pursuit, a collision, an injury, or a drink or drug driving charge. That did not make the offences minor, but it was relevant to how much danger the driving created.
5. Give the court material that supports suspension
The court received a written apology that accepted the seriousness of the offending, material about the personal and financial pressures our client was under at the time, information about his work responsibilities, and a reference describing many years of voluntary involvement in a community sporting club.
Outcome
The Elizabeth Magistrates Court accepted that the offending called for a sentence of imprisonment. After reducing the sentence by 30% for the guilty pleas, it imposed 5 months and 18 days imprisonment and suspended the whole sentence on condition that our client enter into an 18 month good behaviour bond in the sum of $300.
He did not go into custody, and he was not required to serve the sentence on home detention.
Key takeaways
- Four driving while disqualified charges create a serious risk of imprisonment, but they do not automatically mean time in custody.
- Under section 96 of the Sentencing Act, suspension is a second step: the court imposes imprisonment, then decides whether good reason exists to suspend it.
- An old conviction still counts, but its age can matter when the court assesses the offender’s history.
- Material that speaks to the person being sentenced, such as an apology, work responsibilities and community involvement, gives the court a basis for suspension.
Related driving while disqualified results
- Suspended sentence for a third driving while disqualified offence
- No imprisonment for subsequent drive disqualified and drug driving
- No conviction for driving while disqualified two days into a demerit disqualification
- No conviction for driving while disqualified after a short drive
Speak with Talon Legal about driving while disqualified charges
If you are facing more than one driving while disqualified charge, or you have an earlier conviction, get advice before you enter a plea. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021 to speak with a senior traffic lawyer, or read more on our Traffic Lawyers Adelaide page and our Elizabeth Magistrates Court page.
This case study describes one matter. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
