THE driver who allegedly caused a police car chase on Saturday, April 12, has faced local court this week.
After police allegedly saw the man driving a vehicle with an expired registration along Crystal Street, police indicated for the man to pull over, which he did not obey.
A police chase ensued but was halted due to the driver’s alleged manner of driving.
The 31-year-old man faced Broken Hill Local Court on Tuesday, April 22 for sentencing, facing four charges.
He was charged with one count of police pursuit from not stopping – driving dangerously, using an unregistered registrable motor vehicle on the road, driving an uninsured vehicle, and a never licensed person driving vehicle on road – prior offence.
Magistrate Ian McRae said if there were not previous decisions from another magistrate affecting the charges he’d have given the man a custodial sentence.
“I would have given you a custodial sentence but because of the decisions of the past Magistrate my hands are tied,” Magistrate McRae said.
The man’s defence lawyer explained that his client has been deemed suitable for community work and is trying to recover his life.
“He is very eager to get his life back,” the defence said.
Magistrate McRae ruled the man to be convicted of the first charge of police pursuit from not stopping – driving dangerously, and sentenced to a Community Correction Order for a period of 18 months.
The correction order began on Tuesday, April 22 and expires on October 21, 2026.
Conditions for the order include the offender not committing any new offences whilst it’s active, attending court when asked, and being supervised by a Community Corrections Officer at Broken Hill Community Corrections District Office throughout the order.
As part of the sentence for this first charge, the man is also disqualified from holding a driver’s/rider’s licence for 12 months from Tuesday, April 22.
The other three charges each came with a $500 fine, costing $1500 in total.
