Richmond footballer Addam Maric fined for driving while licence suspended and driving unregistered car Mark Dunn
From: Herald Sun
June 06, 2012 12:04PMRICHMOND footballer Addam Maric has been fined $700 for driving while his licence was suspended and driving an unregistered motor car on the day he was delisted from the Demons.
The small forward was pulled over by police using automatic number plate recognition technology on Olympic Blvd near the MCG on October 5 last year, shortly after attending a meeting with Melbourne Football Club officials who told him his services were no longer required, Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard.
It was supposed to be a good day when he was called to the club meeting but things went downhill, his defence lawyer told the court.
Maric, who was subsequently picked up by the Tigers and has played five of the ten rounds this season, was unaware he had lost his licence after losing his final demerit points at a traffic camera, lawyer Paul Kouris told the court.
"I'm not a Richmond supporter,'' Magistrate Frank Jones said.
"He's not the only AFL footballer who has been driving while suspended, some of the others have been more serious than his,'' Mr Jones said.
Mr Kouris told the court Maric had experienced a "comedy of errors'' on the day of the offences.
"It was the day he was deregistered from his club (at Melbourne).
"We have a situation here where he thought he was licensed ... it was an honest mistake.''
The court heard Maric had moved homes and had not received letters from VicRoads alerting him to his licence suspension or that the registration on his Ford Falcon had elapsed.
Mr Kouris said Maric, 22, was earning $55,000 a year playing for Richmond and it was his first time before a court.
Magistrate Jones said it was a "combination of errors and shouldn't be blown up by the press''.
"Make sure you open your mail,'' he told Maric.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/richmond-footballer-addam-maric-fined-for-driving-while-licence-suspended-and-driving-unregistered-car/story-fn7x8me2-1226386017870
