A 23-year-old man has been charged with trying to pervert the course of justice after persuading a friend to take the blame for a burnout.
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Zachary James Ambrose, of Bruce, allegedly urged his friend to fraudulently sign paperwork naming herself as the driver of a white Commodore seen doing burnouts in Bonner on March 15.
The ACT Magistrates Court heard Ambrose told the woman that she would only receive a fine if she took the blame, despite the fact that she did not have a licence, and offered to pay the fine for her.
He has also been charged with performing a burnout, driving disqualified and driving an unregistered car.
The court heard police were called out to a property in Charles Perkins Circuit in Bonner after complaints about a white Commodore doing burnouts.
When they arrived, they allegedly saw the car in the garage and noticed it smelt strongly of burning rubber and the tires were extremely hot to the touch.
The court heard a number of young people were hanging around at the house but all refused to say who had been driving the car and the officers decided to seize the car.
A check revealed it was owned by Ambrose but was unregistered.
The court heard Ambrose drove up to the house soon afterwards and became agitated and abusive but refused to give the name of the person who had been driving it.
A police informant told the court that Ambrose had been served with paperwork to seize the car the next day and also given a written demand for the name of the driver who had performed the burnout.
He allegedly persuaded a friend to sign paperwork naming herself as the driver, even though the young woman told him she didn't even have a licence.
She allegedly confessed to the fraud the next day when police contacted her, saying Ambrose had been driving the car and she had been a passenger.
Police had not yet tracked down the other people who were in the car with Ambrose and there were fears he would pressure them to change their stories if granted bail.
Magistrate Beth Campbell told Ambrose that he needed to decide whether he wanted to be ''a useful member of society or remain, in effect, a loud-mouthed jerk''.
She said she was granting the young man bail on the basis he might start to realise that he could not keep behaving the way he did.
Ms Campbell ordered him to report to police three times a week and not to approach witnesses.
