Jailed after no show
"PRIORITISING work over court” landed a Cannonvale man in prison.
Shane Arthur Douglas Gardiner, 35, was required to appear in Proserpine Magistrates Court on July 31 following drug and bong possession charges from December 2016.
After failing to show up, police found Gardiner cycling without a helmet along the Shute Harbour Rd footpath.
Police checks revealed his failure to appear in court and he was taken to the Whitsunday Police Station watch house.
Police were told Gardiner had "no means” of getting to court when asked why he didn't show up.
ATSILS Defence lawyer Jennine Kiely said Gardiner was too "embarrassed” to tell his employer about the incident and went to work instead.
"He isn't proud of what he did before, but he is working and making an income,” she said.
"It would be crushing for him to serve imprisonment.”
Magistrate Simon Young told Gardiner that his behaviour moved the punishment into more serious territory.
Gardiner was required to serve three days of a three month prison sentence on parole and was put on a $5000 six month Good Behaviour Bond.
