Ricky John Hard: Man receives suspended imprisonment after driving at 155km/h in Cape Burney

A man convicted of driving without a licence 11 times since 2007 has received a suspended jail term after he was caught speeding 64km/h over the limit in the Mid West. Ricky John Hard, 39 was sentenced in the Geraldton Magistrates Court on Wednesday for reckless driving at a speed of 155km/h or more, reckless driving exceeding the speed limit of 45km/h or more, possession of stolen or unlawfully obtained property and no authority to drive. The court was told Hard was travelling at 154km/h in a 90km/h zone along Brand Highway in Cape Burney on March 24, 2023. He was stopped by police about a month later driving a Holden Commodore without a licence, with three lengths of Western Power tape in the back of the car. The court was told Hard took the offcuts from the side of the road thinking he could sell them to make money. Defence counsel Eva Svanberg said Hard was speeding because his family home had been broken into and he was rushing there to see what had been stolen. Police prosecutor Sgt Paul White said Hard had been caught driving without a licence 11 times since 2007. “How he managed to go at that speed around the corner and stay on the right side of the road ... at that speed the vehicle is a weapon,” he said. Magistrate Matthew Walton said the speed was “ridiculously excessive” and could have led to “catastrophic death”. Hard was handed seven months imprisonment, conditionally suspended for eight months, and a $1400 fine. He was disqualified from driving for nine months.