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Semi-professional soccer player faces court for speeding

By Grace Carter

Nov 18, 2025

A man has faced court after speeding on the Goulburn Valley Fwy. Photo by Megan Fisher

A semi-professional soccer player has faced court after speeding at more than 45km/h above the speed limit.

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Tutu Taya, of Shepparton, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to exceeding the speed limit by 45km/h or more, and refusing a breath test.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Nathan Marsh told the court Taya was driving 157km/h in a 110km/h zone on the Goulburn Valley Fwy at Nagambie on March 8.

When police pulled him over he completed a preliminary breath test, which returned a positive result; however, when police asked him to go to the station for a breath test he refused.

The court heard Taya told police he was trying to get to his aunt whose son had recently passed away, and he wanted to continue driving to Melbourne.

Representing himself in court, Taya said his family had been grieving.

He told the court he gets paid from playing soccer in Geelong, but had since moved back to Shepparton.

Magistrate Megan Casey acknowledged the offending occurred in a time of “high emotional stress”, but said Taya was driving at a really fast speed, and it could have ended in “catastrophe”.

She fined him $500 and cancelled his licence for two years from May 16.

No conviction was recorded.