Aerial footage of a drug affected man driving a stolen car into oncoming traffic helped convince a magistrate he should be sent to the County Court to be sentenced.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Shiloh Weston appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Thursday, September 14, where his lawyer argued his case could be heard in that jurisdiction.
However, Magistrate Sharon McRae told the court the overhead footage had given her a clear idea of the seriousness of Mr Weston's offending, and she committed him to the County Court.
Mr Weston pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct endangering serious injury, reckless conduct endangering life and the theft of two motor vehicles in relation to the incident, which the magistrate described as "fairly chilling".
The court heard that at around 11.20am on December 3, 2022 a witness in Echuca told police that a green Kawasaki motorbike he knew to be stolen was in the back of a white Nissan utility in Ogilvie Avenue.
Minutes later, an officer arrived and parked an unmarked black Toyota Kluger across the Ogilvie Avenue driveway where the ute, which police said was also stolen, was located.
Behind the wheel of the Nissan, which had no front number plate, Mr Weston tried to drive around the Toyota but failed.
He then deliberately rammed the vehicle, reversing twice into its passenger side.
Still unable to get around it, he drove through a brick fence, knocking it over.
IN OTHER NEWS:
As Weston made his escape, the police airwing started overhead surveillance, capturing footage of him crossing Ogilvie Avenue in front of oncoming traffic and driving though the streets of Echuca.
When, several minutes into the chase, the officer activated his lights and siren, the ute again crossed onto the wrong side of the road and continued to evade its pursuer.
Mr Weston finally dumped the stolen Nissan at a house in Montgomery Street, jumping a series of fences before hiding at a unit in Dobinson Street, where he was arrested.
Police said he was carrying a satchel containing a small bag found to contain an illicit drug.
The analysis of a drug test later revealed Mr Weston had methylamphetamine in his system.
Defence lawyer Tom Acutt argued his client's offending, while very serious, was driven by panic and fear, given that for half the pursuit he didn't know who was chasing him.
Mr Weston's intention was "always to escape, not to cause harm," his lawyer said.
The entire incident had lasted only around 18 minutes, with the worst, life-threatening, phase of it just 30 seconds, he argued.
However, Joanne Piggot for the Office of Public Prosecutions described it as "high level, high risk offending [by] someone with a total disregard for the law".
Whilst travelling on the wrong side of the road Mr Weston had passed about 12 vehicles and forced at least five of them to take evasive action, she said.
Magistrate McRae agreed that the offending was "at the serious end" of the categories of reckless conduct endangering serious injury and reckless conduct endangering life - something that the footage clearly showed.
"It doesn't matter in my view that there was no collision," she said.
Responding to Mr Acutt's arguments that Mr Weston's was "flash in the pan" offending, she said, "We know that it only takes one second to kill someone on the road."
Mr Acutt said his client, a 22-year-old Yorta Yorta man with an intellectual disability who had been raised by his extended family and lived in and out of residential care, hoped to have his case heard in the Koori Court.
He is due to appear for a directions hearing in the Melbourne County Court in October.
Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser app. Click here to download.
