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I thought I might start a new topic on stupid things people do.



Disqualified driver parked in police spot - d'oh!Article from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print Submit comment: Submit comment EXCLUSIVE by Byron Kaye

March 05, 2009 12:00am

THIS is the man branded by a magistrate as the state's dumbest driver.

With a rap sheet as long as his arm, Richard Malcolm Smith not only went driving while disqualified, he parked outside a police station in a spot reserved for officers because that was where it was "safest".

Despite his appalling record - including paying $10,000 in fines for speeding 28 times and driving while disqualified another 10 times - he proudly declared yesterday: "I've never had an accident."

The Ermington labourer, just four days off getting his licence back, was caught on CCTV and landed in Ryde Local Court, where he was disqualified for another two years.

"You are the dumbo of the day," Magistrate Jennifer Betts told Smith, 40, after he gave his reason for parking outside the police station.

"That is the most idiotic explanation I've heard for driving while disqualified for a long, long time.

"Get rid of the car. You certainly don't deserve the right to keep one."

Check out Smith's unbelievable driving record (pdf document)

Smith, who was representing himself, told the court he was concerned his Hyundai Sprint would be susceptible to thieves because it was in shadows further along Rowe Lane, Eastwood, on May 8 last year.

"I know it was a foolish thing to do but I thought it was where it would be safest because there was the camera there," he said.

"I wasn't out to break the law."

Magistrate Betts, disqualifying Smith from driving until March 4, 2011, said he had lied to police by telling them his friend had driven.

But the same CCTV cameras that had attracted him to the parking spot - reserved for police cars - had captured him getting into the car and driving, the magistrate said.

When Smith told the court that police had misunderstood his explanation, Magistrate Betts said: "I think I'm in a comedy skit."

She sentenced Smith to a 12-month suspended jail sentence.

Outside court Smith told The Daily Telegraph he was a safe driver, including on this occasion, and his days of flouting the Road Safety Act were in the past.



"I don't drive much at all. I've never had an accident."

His 10-page driving record, tendered to the court, paints a different picture. It lists 28 speeding offences, four convictions for driving disqualified, four of driving unlicensed and two more with a cancelled licence.

He has racked up $9711 in driving fines since getting his learner's licence in 1985.

Just before that, at the age of 17, he was fined $50 for driving unlicensed two months before getting his L-plates.

When Smith offered that he had not driven to court yesterday, Magistrate Betts replied: "Well, I hope you didn't. You don't have a licence. That's the best common sense I've heard from you all day."

Smith then caught the bus home.

Source: The Daily Telegraph