YOU'RE 19 & were 18. Last October you had your 19th birthday. I'm going to say a few things to you today, in a language I hope you understand. That's not to patronise you, but it's in the hope it gets through to you.
(A psychiatrist's report says) you have feelings of ambivalence towards authority figures, perceive them as being demeaning, interfering, not to be trusted. Two men over there in blue uniforms are authority figures. I'm an authority figure because I represent the laws of this state and the officers we have are there to catch people who do the wrong thing, bring them before the court and hopefully the court will impose a sentence that suits the offence and the offender.
Your father's an authority figure - you probably don't listen to your dad too much and if you don't listen to your dad and he's flesh and blood, then what hope do I have? In 10 minutes you will be gone and we will never see each other again - we can only hope - but while you're here I'm going to do tell you a few things.
(The psychiatrist's report says) you're immature . . . at 19 it means you can vote, that's all. Thirty-odd years ago you would have been called up for service to go to Vietnam. You're immature, what chance would you have had over there? In the trenches? None. In terms of years you're an adult but between the ears, you are not. That's something you have to recognise. You are not clinically depressed or have a psychiatric illness or condition. It would appear you are at the lower end of the spectrum - that's a good thing for your future and the future of all of us who are going to use the roads in this state. You're easily led and like to impress your friends.
Let me give you a few facts - you got two drive whilst suspended (charges), then you drive again and you're driving whilst disqualified. This is the fourth.
You spent three days in the Sydney police centre at Surry Hills. That's not jail. I'm giving you another chance to go back out there, but if you do it again that's it. Nope. Payday.
Have you got any idea what it's like in there? Any idea at all? You wouldn't last a night. You will find big, ugly, hairy, strong men who've got faces only a mother could love that will pay a lot of attention to you - and your anatomy. Scary, isn't it? But that's what will happen.
Your mates you want to impress are not going to do any time in jail for you.
They will sit down there, on North Cronulla beach, and say, "Wow, Heapsy's in jail." Why would you want to impress them?
How about trying to impress your parents? How about trying to impress the court by showing you are responsible, that you can be responsible. The press is here today, they are going to do a story. I've been a magistrate for 13 years and this time of year there are always stories about youths and cars. Cars run off roads, young people die. Trees and poles don't move.
Only a few days ago a young girl died. The male driver only got a scratch and a few bumps. How's he going to live his life - a friend of his is dead.
It changes not only the parent's lives but everybody else who is connected with it. I know a family who lost their daughter on New Year's Eve. That family was never the same. A friend of mine, his son went out for a ride on his new motorbike, his first motorbike, and was hit by a car. Dead. Their lives were never the same again. You have got no idea the pain this can cause people, when they lose a child. No idea.
Your parents probably sleep with one eye open, waiting for you to come home at night. They worry about you. Your father is only here today because he loves you and wants to help you. You are not bulletproof. (You think) "It's not going to happen to me". It will. It can, it can happen to all of us. Accidents happen all the time; in the car with far greater catastrophic results.
Have you got a Nana? (Nods) Do you like her? (Nods) Well do it for her. She thinks the world of you, doesn't she? (Nods again). Next time you're out there with your mates trying to impress them, think, "What would Nana think?" She's probably not as judgmental as you think your parents are, she's all loving and forgiving. If you think she would be disappointed in you, don't do it.
I probably should sentence you to jail but that would probably ruin your life and I think more can be gained with trying to educate you. You're not driving until September 2013. You are to be of good behaviour for 12 months or you will come back before the court and be re-sentenced. You will do 150 hours of community service. You will see the Probation and Parole Service and do the traffic offender's program. If you don't do what they say, you will effectively be telling me that you want to go and shower with the gorillas in the mist down at Long Bay jail.
(On the program) ambulance officers will tell you what it's like to pull mangled bodies out of wreckage. Paraplegics will tell you about why they are in a wheel chair wearing a colostomy bag and have to have their nappies changed on a regular basis by their parents and after they die, who will do it for them?
If that doesn't sink in, you don't deserve chances. Don't give your parents any more heartache. They want you to bury them, not the other way around.
