A POLICE chase that reached speeds of 120km/h through Warrnambool's suburban streets has ended in jail for a Warrnambool man.
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Daniel Hall, 22, of Silesia Court, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court yesterday to six driving offences which breached a suspended sentence and several community work permits and community-based orders.
Most of the charges related to the chase, which began on May 15 last year sometime after 9pm when an intoxicated and unlicensed Hall decided to ride his unregistered Kawasaki motorcycle to a Warrnambool bottleshop to get more alcohol, the court heard.
The police prosecutor said Hall was followed in a car by his girlfriend and a friend but they soon lost sight of Hall when rode off down Liebig Street and headed for Merrivale.
Police spotted him on the motorbike - which didn't have licence plates - shortly before midnight in Pertobe Road and Hall sped off, with police giving chase, the court was told.
Hall reached speeds of about 120km/h as he fled police through central and east Warrnambool, but police terminated the pursuit after 2.2km due to the dangerous speeds.
The police prosecutor said that when Hall arrived home he bragged about the chase, claiming to have reached speeds of up to 210km/h.
Hall then took the motorbike to Boiling Down Road "to do skids", with his girlfriend and a mate following in a car.
After running out of petrol, Hall dumped the bike, which was later recovered by police and taken to the Warrnambool police station.
The court heard that when police was interviewing Hall over another incident, Hall mentioned he was missing a motorcycle and furnished proof that the recovered bike was his, but said a friend had been riding it on the night of the chase.
Hall was also charged for doing a five-metre burn-out in Hyland Street in February 2009.
Defence counsel Jacob Torney described Hall's offending as "not pretty" and that all his client asked was to be out of prison before Christmas so he could spend the holiday with his 14-month-old son.
Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt said the Hyland Street burn-out was "an act of stupidity".
"Doing a burn-out when you've had so much trouble with police seems to indicate you just don't get it, and that was confirmed when you were involved in that ridiculous and dangerous (pursuit)," Mr Klestadt said.
"To boast about it to acquaintances shows you just don't understand the risks you're taking and the effect on yourself and others in the community.
"At those speeds, if you'd hit something, it would have been like a bomb going off. You wouldn't have survived, but you probably would have taken someone with you."
He sentenced Hall to a total of three months in jail, plus a further 35 days to cover outstanding fines, minus 11 days reckoned as already served. Hall's licence was also cancelled for 30 months and he was fined a further $850.