A domestic violence perpetrator whose learner licence expired over four years ago has allegedly been caught behind the wheel of a car - and in possession of a homemade tomahawk.
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Jesse Braden Clarke, 27, fronted Wollongong Local Court on Sunday after he was charged with driving while disqualified and possessing a prohibited weapon.
Police documents said officers undertaking speed enforcement duties in Windang on Saturday morning allegedly saw the Nowra resident driving while looking at a mobile phone and travelling about 65 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, but were unable to find him again amid the busy holiday traffic.
A short time later, officers pulled Clarke over in Lake Illawarra and when they asked him for his licence, he said he did not have one and accepted he should not be driving.
Clarke told the officers, "That's what the officer told me this morning in Wollongong. I've got the paper he gave me in the car".
While talking to Clarke, officers noticed what appeared to be a weapon in the vehicle.
It was a sharpened metal bicycle brake disc attached to a handle, an item police alleged "could be described as an improvised axe or tomahawk".
Clarke allegedly admitted to making the item and told officers that he "had been jumped a few times and it's for protection".
Police also found a red defect label and paperwork, which had been issued in Figtree at 12.45am and ordered the vehicle not be driven because of smooth tyres and a broken brake light.
Clarke underwent a breath test which returned a negative result but a drug test indicated the presence of methamphetamine, so a sample was sent away for further forensic testing.
Clarke applied for bail at Wollongong Local Court on Sunday but police prosecutor Sergeant Ben Bragger opposed his release.
Sergeant Bragger voiced concern about the possibility of Clarke offending while on bail and failing to appear at court.
He said Clarke had a "very, very poor driving record" and police had found him with a serious implement.
"With his record of violence, that is a concern to the community," Sergeant Bragger said.
The police documents said Clarke was on parole for domestic violence offences, his learner licence had expired in 2017 and he was disqualified from driving until September 2022.
Defence lawyer Wael Skaf said police might not be able to prove the charge of possessing a prohibited weapon, given the nature of the implement in Clarke's car.
"My submission is that it is not a weapon," Mr Skaf told the court.
It was fashioned so it might replicate a tomahawk, he said, but it did not meet the definition of a weapon under the legislation.
Mr Skaf told the court that there had been a three to four year lapse in driving offences, and Clarke had been living in his car due to problems at home but could return to that address.
He said Clarke was going to engage in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
But registrar Tina McKenna said she was not going to release Clarke to the proposed address without the permission of the occupant.
Ms McKenna said Clarke was accused of committing four sets of offences within 10 days and had a history of non-compliance.
She said he was also on a community corrections order, had a "fairly lengthy history", and was looking at a likely full-time jail sentence if convicted of the offences.
Ms McKenna refused bail and remanded Clarke to face court again on Tuesday.
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