All charges were dismissed our 40-year old client after the magistrate found that he did not know, and ‘could not reasonably have known’ that police were pursuing him.
Our client was riding his motorcycle on en route to Canberra from Sydney. Police activated their lights and siren from a distance of approximately 100 metres behind our client.
Police alleged that, upon their sirens being activated, our client increased his speed to over 160kph and attempted to evade them for approximately two kilometres.
Our client was adamant that he did not see the police nor hear their sirens, and that he pulled over immediately upon seeing them alongside his bike.
Police refused to withdraw charges of ‘police pursuit’ and ‘speed by more than 45kph’, and the matter proceeded to a defended hearing in Hornsby Local Court.
The magistrate was “unimpressed” by police testimony in relation to speed and our client’s alleged conduct. In particular, police did not record the speed on a radar device and the magistrate was not satisfied they could see our client looking into the bike’s small rear-view mirror.
Her Honour came to the view that our client’s testimony was credible and dismissed all both of the charges against him.