Ali v Commissioner of Police [2009] QDC 406

[2009] QDC 406 DISTRICT COURT APPELLATE JURISDICTION JUDGE SAMIOS No 2123 of 2009 TARIA FARAZ ALI Appellant and COMMISSIONER OF POLICE Respondent BRISBANE ..DATE 07/12/2009 ORDER 1-1 -- 1 of 3 -- 1-2 ORDER 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 HIS HONOUR: This is an appeal against a decision of the learned Magistrate at Gatton who on the 7th of July 2009 convicted the appellant ex parte for disobeying the speed limit pursuant to section 20 of the Transport Operations Road Use Management Road Rules Regulation 1999. The appellant in his outline says that on the 7th of July 2009 he was to appear at the Magistrates Court of Queensland at Gatton. Unfortunately he had work and personal commitments which had made it very difficult to appear on the day. He had all intentions beforehand to appear on the date of hearing but unforseen circumstances had prohibited him from doing so. He has appeared before me today and says that on the 4th of July 2009, the Saturday, it was his sister's wedding. There were a lot of relatives and friends from overseas attending and on the 7th of July 2009, the Tuesday, he was committed to taking people backwards and forwards to the airport. These reasons, in my opinion, are insufficient to justify allowing the appeal. He elected, knowing the Court date, to attend to personal business rather than attend the Court as he should have. In those circumstances I am satisfied the learned Magistrate did not err by proceeding ex parte. In addition the appellant had the right to seek a rehearing before the Magistrate. He has not availed himself of that opportunity. -- 2 of 3 -- 1-3 ORDER 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 Therefore in these circumstances I dismiss the appeal. ----- -- 3 of 3 --