About eight months after a repeat offender who previously set his vicious dog on an officer was released from jail, he led police on a dangerous pursuit.
When Matthew John Millard spoke to a report author ahead of his sentencing in the ACT Magistrates Court, he said "he just wanted to go for a drive".
On Wednesday, magistrate Jane Campbell said: "I can understand that Mr Millard, who spent most of his adult life in jail, might want on occasion to go out and drive but, unfortunately, he's never held a licence."
Millard, 41, had only recently been released from jail and was only two months free of parole, when he ran a red light, and drove into oncoming traffic in Braddon with police in pursuit.
He has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, as well as driving unlicensed, uninsured and without a correct number plate.
On Wednesday, Ms Campbell handed Millard a four-month jail sentence, to be suspended upon him entering into a 12-month good behaviour order.
On January 27, the Australia Day long weekend, Millard led police on a chase through Braddon and Ainslie before officers disengaged due to safety concerns.
He was later arrested after police found him outside Ainslie Village, next to the car in question and its keys in his possession.
In 2018 Millard encouraged his pit bull to maul a female constable, who suffered "significant disability" and psychological trauma as a result of the attack.
The incident took place when the constable knocked on Millard's door to question him about an elderly woman's mobility scooter, which he had stolen four days earlier.
On Wednesday, Legal Aid lawyer Sam Brown argued that during the dangerous driving "no pedestrians were put at risk, no passengers, [and there was] no presence of illicit substances".
Mr Brown said Millard acquired a brain injury after overdosing in 2011, and as a result he no longer took heroin.
The magistrate found that more time behind bars would cause a risk of the offender becoming institutionalised, if he wasn't already.
"Hopefully, this is your chance to prove you can comply with a community-based order," Ms Campbell said.
