Man previously jailed warned he risks going back there for driving offences

Harley Turner, 35, faced Wodonga court on Tuesday, February 27, after backing into a vehicle in a Wodonga car park and leaving while he had a warrant out for his arrest.

While Turner returned during the November 30 incident last year at Wodonga Plaza and left a note, the court heard he didn't notify police.

Turner, a father of five, was wanted for an incident more than eight years earlier.

He had gone to the BP petrol station at Barnawartha North on January 26, 2015.

The unlicensed driver filled up a black Nissan X-Trail with fuel worth $61 and went to the counter and asked for cigarettes.

A staff member gave him a packet worth $38 and a lighter, and Turner grabbed them when she turned around and quickly walked to the car.

He sped off, screeching the car's tyres.

Turner was banned from driving at the time after refusing a breath test in 2013.

Lawyer Sophie Greiner said her client had started using amphetamine at age 13 and had alcohol issues in his teens, but stopped using drugs after becoming a father.

She said the owner of the vehicle that Turner reversed into had asked for $5000 and neither driver was insured.

The court heard Turner was jailed for three months in 2018.

He narrowly avoided a second stint in jail in 2018 after attacking a driver involved in a fatal crash with his friend, Billy Bolton, at Howlong.

Lawyer Sophie Greiner said Turner's son required medical treatment in Melbourne and asked Mr Watkins not to impose another driving ban.

The magistrate instead imposed a fine.

"You've got a bad driving history of ignoring court orders that you don't drive, you get behind the wheel and continue driving," Mr Watkins said.

"You've been to jail for three months.

"If you keep driving whilst disqualified, you're going to go back there."

Mr Watkins ordered Turner pay $850 plus costs of $136.

"It's a big fine, but you've got to accept responsibility for that," he said.