Young Mt Barker driver handed fine and year-long disqualification for burnouts in front of Plantagenet Hotel

A Mt Barker driver who did burnouts in front of the Plantagenet Hotel after he was kicked out of the venue for “disruptive behaviour” has been handed a fine and lengthy licence disqualification. Baely Dean Rainbird, 22, was sentenced in Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday for reckless driving in a confiscation zone. Police prosecutor Sgt Gary Simpson told the court the offence occurred about 9.30pm on September 19 after Rainbird was requested by staff to leave the Plantagenet Hotel for “disruptive behaviour”. Rainbird left the venue and got into his Nissan Patrol, which he drove out of the hotel’s carpark on to Lowood Road to stop in front of the hotel. He then began heavily accelerating while holding down the brakes to perform a burnout manoeuvre down the road. This left two dark tyre marks on the roads surface. The incident was reported to police, who identified Rainbird and served him with a surrender notice, given that the incident occurred in a confiscation zone marked 50km/h. Magistrate Erin O’Donnell said the offence was Rainbird’s second reckless driving charge following a similar conviction on December 27 last year, and noted the subsequent offending carried a maximum penalty of a $9000 fine or nine months imprisonment. Rainbird, who represented himself in court, said he was “extremely sorry” for his actions. Ms O’Donnell fined him $900 and ordered that he pay court costs of $308.80. She disqualified him from driving for a year.