By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A drug-addled disqualified driver has waved an imitation gun, weaved dangerously through traffic and then fallen asleep at the wheel on Springvale Road Keysborough.
Rickie King, 24, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to a raft of drug, driving, theft and weapon charges, as well as the mandatory jailable offence of exposing an emergency worker to risk.
High on GHB, he waved the silver automatic imitation gun outside the driver’s window at another motorist on Springvale Road Mulgrave in the mid-afternoon of 11 January 2019.
As he headed south, he eratically weaved his stolen Hiace van from lane to lane.
King slowed down briefly, then sped a winding course through traffic in Springvale. He came to rest, slumped at the wheel in a bus lane near the Governor Road intersection in Keysborough.
Police found him seemingly asleep. They removed the gun from his lap, and tried to turn off the engine – however there was no key and the ignition barrel was damaged.
Officers placed a stop-stick under the front left tyre, and hemmed in the van with police vehicles at the front and rear.
When he woke, King frantically moved the gears and repeatedly rammed the police cars until he freed the van.
He sped off, swiping the rear of another driver’s car near Waterways.
King didn’t stop at the scene of the collision, but rather at a Subway outlet in Chelsea where he stole a drink from the fridge.
He was soon arrested by police, who seized heroin and ice from his pockets, two knives from the van as well as other people’s IDs and bankcards.
In a police interview at Dandenong, King said he’d taken GHB 45 minutes beforehand and couldn’t remember the events since.
At the time, he was a disqualified driver and on bail for car theft and handling stolen goods.
In a neglected upbringing, King was introduced to heroin by his father. At 19, he’d sold drugs to pay the rent after his dad went to jail.
In sentencing on 24 August, Judge Liz Gaynor noted his dangerous, drug-affected actions behind the wheel.
It came on the back of a long criminal history of repeated drug, weapon and dangerous driving charges, she noted.
She had deferred sentencing so King could do drug rehab at Odyssey House.
However, 42 days in, he was ejected for breaching the house’s strict protocols – though there was no suggestion that he’d used drugs.
Judge Gaynor accepted King had made a “creditable attempt” and wanted to reform. He spent a drug-free period in productive work and engaged well with a Corrections officer before he seriously relapsed.
In July, he was remanded and charged with armed robbery, unlawful assault and being a prohibited person with a firearm. Those offences have yet to be tried.
“You still have to fully commit to a drug-free lifestyle,” Judge Gaynor said.
“Until you do nothing will change.”
King was jailed for 10 months – most of which was already served in 206 days of pre-sentence detention.
