A man's criminal record caught up with him in Orange Local Court on Wednesday, October 4.
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Dwayne John Ah-See, of Dalton Street, briefly hugged and kissed a woman goodbye in the courtroom before being taken into custody.
Moments earlier Ah-See had been sentenced to full-time jail for driving while his licence was disqualified last year.
Solicitor Dominic Holles told the court 38-year-old Ah-See had cleaned up his act since the offence.
"The trip was short, he only drove a couple of blocks," Mr Holles said.
"There's no further offending of this kind.
"He knows that it was silly to drive and acknowledges he shouldn't have done it."
Mr Holles said when looking at the types of offences on Ah-See's record there was a "serious deescalation of offending," and emphasised the delay between the offence 14 months ago and his sentence date
Magistrate David Day however said the delay between the offence and Ah-See being sentenced was due to Ah-See not turning up to court.
Mr Day also had difficulty looking past Ah-See's record saying he was in double figures when it came to the number of charges for unauthorised driving.
"He's got an appalling driving record," Mr Day said.
"He has double figures for unauthorised driving, I gave up counting after 10."
Mr Day said Ah-See was also on parole and according to court documents Ah-See's driver's licence was disqualified until October 2027 when he committed the offence last year.
About 11pm on August 12, 2022, police were patrolling in Dalton Street when they and saw a white single-cab Mazda Bravo ute driving behind the police car.
The police saw the car turn right onto Sampson Street then left into Hartas Lane before turning into the driveway of a unit complex where Ah-See got out of the driver's side of the car and walked to the porch of a nearby unit.
No other people were in the vehicle or near the vehicle.
The police approached Ah-See and he denied driving the vehicle but police found a set of keys matching the vehicle where he had been standing and confirmed they matched the vehicle.
Ah-See initially pleaded not guilty but was found guilt when he failed to attend court.
"The matter was set down for hearing and he didn't turn up," Mr Day said.
He said Ah-See had previously received community-based intensive correction orders as well as full-time jail sentences for his driving offences but he continued to re-offend.
Mr Holles told the court Ah-See had previously had a learner's licence.
"He's never demonstrated to any authority that he has the requisite knowledge or skills, hand eye coordination etc to drive," Mr Day said.
"He poses a safety risk to the public because no one knows how good he drives.
"What kind of order will enforce community safety? He's the author of his own misfortune.
"His risk of reoffending in respect to driving is high, you look at his record, it's hopeless."
On Wednesday, Mr Day sentenced Ah-See to a seven months of full-time jail with a four-month non-parole period and Ah-See was taken into custody in the courtroom.
Mr Day previously convicted Ah-See for the offence and he disqualified Ah-See's driver's licence for 12 months from July 12, 2023.
Ah-See has since been released from custody on bail after he launched a severity appeal into the sentence. That appeal will be heard in the District Court.
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