By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
A FORKLIFT driver and former refugee has been warned he will be
jailed if he is convicted for a fourth time for driving on the road
while suspended.
Sharuggesh Waran’s driver’s licence was cancelled for a further 25
months for his third offence of driving while suspended when he
appeared at Dandenong Magistrates Court last Monday, July 22.
Magistrate Gerard Bryant also handed Waran, 34, a suspended
one-month jail term for his second drink-driving offence and a $350 fine
for giving police a false identity card when pulled over.
Waran had been detected with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.113 when
pulled over by police on Power Road, Doveton, just after midnight on
September 23. His driver’s licence, which did not permit any alcohol in
his system, was immediately suspended for a year.
Five months later, when he was caught driving on Centre Dandenong
Road, Cheltenham, he gave police a Sri Lankan licence with the name
Ranesh Waran.
The court heard that Waran fled to Australia as a traumatised
27-year-old after being imprisoned and tortured by the Sri Lankan
military.
He had been employed full-time since gaining residency status in
Australia and had bought a house for himself, his wife and three
children.
Since the driving incidents, Waran has been undergoing counselling for “difficulties with alcohol”.
“[Waran] has shown contempt for the police orders,” Mr Bryant
said. “I appreciate that being from a Sri Lankan rural background you
may not appreciate the laws of this country as they apply for you.
“You need to understand that if you drive a motor vehicle in the
next 12 months you could go to jail for a month or more. If you are
caught driving while suspended for a fouth time, it’s fairly likely that
you’d goto jail.
