Jail sentence reduced, but it's small joy for woman with repeated driving offences

However, Kelly, through her legal aid solicitor Gerry Stapleton, managed to secure a two-month cut in her jail sentence taking into account time already spent in custody and in a rehabilitation unit prior to her sentencing in Orange Local Court on October 16.

Until late last year, Kelly had not come under police notice in Orange, however when she was spotted doing burnouts in an unregistered car with no licence, she was on the police radar from November 12 last year.

On the morning of December 7 police again pulled Kelly over and a check revealed she had no licence.

Thumbing her nose at the law Kelly got in her vehicle 25 minutes later and was again caught by police.

Nine days later on December 16 she got behind the wheel and was pulled over by police again.

In February this year still without a licence she was caught driving illegally for the fifth time.

As part of the argument for her release Mr Stapleton said Kelly’s mother had arranged for the vehicle to be towed and crushed and there was no chance if she was freed from jail she would drive it again.

Mr Stapleton said his client hopes to be transferred out of Silverwater prison to Wellington jail to be closer to her family.

“She tells me she’s at wit’s end with no set activities,” Mr Stapleton told the court.

Judge Paul Lakatos told Mr Stapleton his client’s troubled history of drug and alcohol abuse, with court reports of her being removed from her family as a child and reportedly being abused while in the care of the Department of Community Services was “a sad personal history”.

However he said Kelly has to make more of an effort to commit to rehabilitation.

“She has not come up to the mark in the past in terms of her motivation for rehabilitation - she doesn’t have runs on the board for her rehabilitation and so far has shown no remorse,” Judge Lakatos said.

Kelly will be eligible for release on parole in February next year.