By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A drug-driving Dad who fled from police and crashed into a Lighthouse Christian College school bus in Pakenham has been jailed.
Timothy Maggs, 41, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to charges including dangerous driving whilst pursued by police, speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road.
On 21 October 2020, police saw Maggs driving a Mazda 2 hatch at a fast speed on Racecourse Road.
At the time, his licence was suspended, he was on bail and a community corrections order, and with cannabis in his system.
Police followed him on Princes Highway and Atkins Road, activating their lights and sirens.
Maggs failed to stop but instead overtook vehicles and drove on the wrong side of Fallingwater Drive. An oncoming driver had to take evasive action at an intersection.
Back on Princes Highway, Maggs crossed a median strip and drove towards incoming traffic. Police at that stage called off the pursuit.
About 4pm Maggs failed to give way at a T-intersection and crashed into the front of the school bus at the corner of Dunbarton Drive and Pommel Street.
Part of the bus’s front was caved in. There were no injuries to the children and driver on the bus.
Maggs and a female fled from his car. Maggs jumped fences while he carried a black duffle bag with a home-made firearm and cartridge ammunition.
He was captured by police, and resisted arrest.
Sentencing judge Gavan Meredith on 7 April said Maggs’s driving was “fraught with risk for other road users”.
Judge Meredith was concerned that Maggs – who was prohibited from having a firearm – could provide no clear reason for the gun made of pipe.
Maggs was hospitalised for two weeks at Monash Medical Centre due to “blood on the brain”. It wasn’t clear if he was injured in the crash or during the arrest, Judge Meredith said.
Maggs’s abusive, violent upbringing in Wagga Wagga, as well as long-time substance abuse and mental health issues were noted by the judge.
At the time, Maggs relapsed into smoking up to 1 gram of ice a day, with cannabis and alcohol, to relieve Covid-lockdown anxiety and boredom.
His criminal history stretched more than 20 years including unauthorised driving, assaulting police and breaching bail.
Maggs was jailed for two years, three months followed by a therapeutic community corrections order.
The order includes supervision, drug and alcohol treatment, and mental health services.
His jail term includes 535 days in pre-sentence custody.
