Two Adelaide men who bribed a driving examiner $450 in exchange for a licence have avoided jail.
Abdul Kajani, 23, and Ethan Quadros, 24, pleaded guilty to dishonestly dealing with documents and bribing public officer Joe Jawad Dimachki in 2017.
South Australian District Court Judge Michael Boylan said the university students agreed they would pay Dimachki to issue the certificate of competency necessary to attain a probationary license.
Dimachki gave Quadros the certificate, which had been issued in Kajani's name, in exchange for $450.
Kajani then presented it at a government office and was issued with a licence.
Judge Boylan said Kajani had become anxious about taking the test because of a fear of failure, and Quadros wanted to spare him further stress and anxiety.
But he said any sentence handed down needed to send a message to the community.
"Our society simply will not tolerate corruption in public office," he said.
"Such corruption can become a cancer in our system of government."
Lawyers for the pair asked Judge Boylan not to record a conviction, but he declined, telling the pair their offending was "too serious".
He sentenced them to four months in jail, wholly suspended on an 18-month good behaviour bond, and urged them to stay out of trouble.
"You've done enough damage to yourselves and your families already," he said.
Dimachki has pleaded guilty to 10 corruption offences but is yet to be sentenced.
Australian Associated Press
