Police & Court

P-plater regrets refusing drug test, defence tells court

By Grace Carter

Oct 24, 2025

A woman has faced court after driving without P-plates and refusing a drug test. Photo by Holly Daniel

A woman who refused a drug test in the early hours of the new year has been sentenced in court.

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Shanae Maree Miller, 21, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to refusing a drug test and driving without P-plates.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Nathan Marsh told the court Miller completed a preliminary drug test – which returned a positive result – when police stopped her on Huggard Dve, Mooroopna, at about 1am on January 1.

However, when police asked her to go to the station for a drug test, she refused.

The court heard there were also no P-plates on the car she was driving, which she told police was because she had just cleaned her car out.

Miller’s defence solicitor Ian Michaelson said his client wasn’t aware of the consequences of refusing a drug test and now regretted the decision to do so.

Magistrate David Faram fined Miller $750, and disqualified her from driving for two years, which began on March 7.