Colin James Kennedy pleads not guilty to driving without licence

A Queensland father of two who left a crash scene to fetch his wife so she could tell police she was the driver, has tried to convince a court his version of events was true.

Colin James Kennedy was convicted after pleading not guilty to a charge of driving without a license disqualified by a court order in Bundaberg Magistrates Court.

A disqualified driver brought his pyjama-clad wife back to the scene of a crash so she could pretend she was the driver, a Bundaberg court heard.

Colin James Kennedy pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving while disqualified when he fronted Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Monday, August 28.

Police prosecutor Carl Spargo told the court police were called to the scene of a two vehicle crash at an intersection in Bundaberg on June 16, 2023.

Kennedy was at the scene along with his wife who was wearing pyjamas, and the female driver of the other car who admitted to police she was at fault, the court heard.

The woman told police that after the crash, Kennedy approached her and said words to the effect of “are you OK, would it be OK if I go and get my wife because I don’t have a licence”.

The court heard Kennedy then left the scene in his car, and returned soon afterwards with his wife driving and dressed in pyjamas, with Kennedy in the passenger seat.

Kennedy’s wife told police she was driving the car at the time of the crash, and she did not want to exit the car because she was embarrassed to be wearing pyjamas.

Kennedy asked the driver of the other car involved in the crash if he could get his wife because he didn’t have a licence, the court heard.

The court heard when police asked Kennedy’s wife to give her account of the crash, she gave an account inconsistent with the scene, including that her car had spun around in the intersection after colliding with the other car.

In assessing the eyewitness testimony to the incident, Magistrate John McInnes said Kennedy’s wife’s assertion that she was the driver was inconsistent with witnesses who saw the car leave and return to the scene.

“On her return to the scene, why would someone in that position drive away and drive back wearing the same garb that embarrassed her?” Mr McInnes said.

“It seems to me that the sequence of events is really by far more consistent with the wife not having been there at the time of the collision and only having arrived at a later time.

“ … The only reasonable conclusion is that it was Mr Kennedy who was the driver and that the suggestion in fact that his wife was the driver is unsupported by any evidence.”

The court heard Kennedy was charged with unlicensed driving on five occasions between 2010 and 2022.

Defending himself, Kennedy told the court he was working so was able to pay a fine, and was supporting two children.

Mr McInnes fined Kennedy $1500 and ordered that he be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for two years.