Sep 9, 2010
Biker's ban slashed by two-thirds
'Two-second ride' did not merit three-year ban, High Court rules
By Selina Lum
A FORMER Institute of Technical Education lecturer had a three-year driving ban slashed to a year after the High Court ruled that the lower court's sentence was manifestly excessive. In January last year, a motor insurance offence saw Ronald Yapp, 37, banned for a year from operating all classes of vehicles. But he was caught riding his motorcycle just eight days before the disqualification period was up.
He was then jailed for eight weeks, fined $1,000 and given a further three-year driving ban, after pleading guilty on two charges in a district court in April. Yapp, who has served the jail term, filed his appeal against the driving ban while in prison.He succeeded on Thursday, when the High Court agreed with his lawyer that his sentence had been too severe.
