From the court of Stanthorpe

Kim Hanson-Ross kimberley.hansonross@icloud.com

SPER Suspensions

A 23-year-old man was disqualified from driving for driving on a SPER suspended licence in February this year, after police pulled him over for driving without his P plates.

The defendant had reportedly paid off the SPER fine recently, but his lawyer said “he didn’t read the fine print, which was that his licence was still suspended” after paying the fine.

At the time of offending, the man was dropping his girlfriend’s car off to the mechanic.

He drives from Ballandean to Warwick for work, and Magistrate Virginia Sturgess recognised that the loss of his licence would be an inconvenience but told the defendant that “it’s a mandatory disqualification".

“The way the government does debt collecting, is if you don’t pay your debt, they suspend your licence,” Magistrate Sturgess said.

“If you had paid your debt on time, you would’ve just been ticketed for driving without your P plates.”

The man was fined $200 for driving

Dr. GAL: ON THE PULSE

An Apple a Day keeps the Doctor Away?

Much of our time as General Practitioners is spent counselling patients about diet and lifestyle interventions aimed at preventing the onset and progression of chronic disease. Modern life is obesogenic and diabetogenic: supermarket shelves as far as the eye can see replete with hyper-palatable, relatively cheap, and "instant"-variety ultra-processed foods. Not to mention the wafting aroma of fried chicken and french fries tempting us on the drive to and fro work each day. "Ultra-processed" has a fairly complicated definition, but for the purpose of discussion generally refers to soft drinks, packaged snacks (sweet and savoury), frozen foods, microwave meals, reconstituted meat products, and "instant" meals more broadly. What these products share in common is how they're produced - large-scale processing of industrially-derived food substances and food additives - highly calorific and increasingly menacing to human health.

A European Journal of Public Health article published last year reveals that ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption significantly influences cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and all-cause mortality. The authors went so far as to recommend actions to limit UPF consumption be incorporated into public health guidelines. More recently, a January 2023 article published in Lancet revealed "UPF consumption may be linked to an increased burden and mortality for overall and certain site-specific cancers especially ovarian cancer in women". The authors of this study performed statistical analyses on the UK Biobank, a large, long-term repository of biological data which follows around 500,000 volunteers in the UK. Indeed, what we eat has serious implications for our health: it's estimat- ed that several hundred thousand cancer deaths each year can be attributed to insufficient fruit and vegetable intake.

Curiously, it's not just our physical health at risk from consumption of ultra-processed foods.

A study published earlier this month in Journal of Affective Disorders demonstrates an association between UPF consumption and higher rates of depressive symptoms, lower volumes in certain brain regions (mesocorticolimbic regions - associated with motivation and reward-seeking behaviour), and higher white blood cell count (a marker of inflammation).

So, what practical steps can we take to limit consumption of processed foods?

Let's start by eating closer to nature: fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, wholegrains, fresh and frozen poultry and meat, fish, milk, yoghurt and eggs. These foods are dense in nutrients, fibre, vitamins and minerals and can actually result in a cheaper shopping trip in some cases. Wholefoods are often more nourishing and filling than processed foods; when purchased in bulk, the savings can be significant. In contrast, ultra-processed foods are often higher in salt, sugar, and saturated fat - scientifically formulated to be hyper-palatable and moreish - in some cases even activating addiction pathways within the brain. Some of my patients have set up raised garden beds with fruit, veggies and herbs in the backyard or on the veranda - a great way to eat closer to nature and get some exercise in at the same time!

Stanthorpe is blessed with an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms - what better way to keep the doctor away!

In Good Health, Dr Gal Strasberg FRACGP without his P plates.

SPER (the State Penalties Enforcement Registry) is a debt collection service for unpaid fines and penalties, which include infringement notices such as speeding offences, parking illegally, and toll evasion.

When offenders are charged in court, they are offered a choice between referring the fine to SPER or being given time to pay it within two or three months.

SPER is beneficial to those who are unable to pay within the three-month timeframe given by the court, particularly if their fine is quite hefty.

Another woman during the same day as the above defendant, was due to have her hearing for the same offence, driving while SPER suspended.

She had little confidence in how she would cope without her licence for a month and was unable to apply for a restricted workers licence.

Magistrate Sturgess gave her the option of fighting the charge by gathered information and sending it through to Police Prosecution but could not guarantee it would succeed.

The woman chose to adjourn her hearing in the interest of fighting the charge.

Out of Character

A 65-year-old woman was charged $150 for the “unauthorised possession of illegally shopped goods” which Magistrate Virginia Sturgess noted was “stealing, but a less serious charge of stealing".

The defendant’s lawyer representative commented that he hadn’t come across many charges like this but stated that in almost all cases he dealt with, this "indicates a cry for help".

The defendant was said to have some mobility problems, depression and had lost her home about three months ago to a house fire.

At the time of offending, the woman stole custom made earrings valued at $19.

She reportedly waited at the stand where the earrings were and took them when nobody was looking.

The defendant than paid for another item, before leaving with the earrings hidden on her person.

The earrings were noticed as stolen during stocktake, and CCTV cameras revealed who took them.

When the woman was confronted, she told police they were bought from elsewhere, but later admitted to the crime.