Saphfire Angel Erihe-Schaeffer pleads guilty to dangerous driving

Police have called a learner driver “a nuisance on the road” after she used her vehicle as a battering ram while fleeing from officers.

CORNERED by police in a hotel carpark a learner driver rammed a police car in a desperate attempt to get away.

Saphfire Angel Erihe-Schaeffer appeared via video-link at Ipswich Magistrates Court for sentence on 11 charges this week, with the court hearing she had also been stopped by police when driving alone with no licensed driver instructing her.

The court heard she told police she had no licence on her and also gave them a false name – that of her sister.

Erihe-Schaeffer, 19, from Redbank, pleaded guilty to three charges of driving when disqualified; dangerous operation of a motor vehicle at Redbank on April 8; obstructing police; unlawful possession of suspected stolen property; two counts of not stopping at a red light; being a driver who failed to comply with request to stop; breaching a probation order; and failing to appear at court.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Bernard Elmore said Erihe-Schaeffer used the car “as a battering ram” to move the police car as a means to escape.

It was conceded by police that it had not been her intention to physically harm anyone.

Snr Elmore said that in another incident police intercepted a car at Redbank Plains on October 26.

The female driver told officers she did not have a licence and gave a false name.

A police check revealed that she was in fact Saphfire Erihe-Schaeffer and was wanted on a warrant.

Sen Const. Elmore said she was on a suspended sentence from Ipswich District Court and a two-year probation order for a prior dangerous driving offence.

Saphfire Angel Erihe-Schaeffer has been jailed for offences including dangerous driving.

That incident related to Erihe-Schaeffer driving dangerously in North Ipswich on December 3, before she was seen changing seats with a male passenger.

Polair tracked the car until it crashed into another motor vehicle.

“Quite frankly she is a nuisance on the road,” Sen Const. Elmore said.

A letter of apology written to the court by Erihe-Schaeffer was tended by her lawyer John Wilson, who said it showed that she now had some insight into her offending.

Mr Wilson said she had now spent more than 120 days in jail.

He said she had a difficult upbringing and was still young.

Magistrate David Shepherd said she would turn 20 next month and he noted that since September 2019 Erihe-Schaeffer had spent eight months in jail.

“What an absolute waste. Your offending did not start until 2019 and you burst onto the scene quite dramatically with these offences,” he said.

“What make it worse is that you did not take up opportunities given to you by the court.

Saphfire Angel Erihe-Schaeffer rammed a police car at Redbank.

“The biggest mistake is not learning from your mistakes.”

Mr Shepherd said she had complied to some extent with her probation order and attended Ted Noffs Foundation for assistance with alcohol and drugs.

Mr Shepherd said her dangerous operation offence had taken place when police followed her into the carpark of the Commercial hotel in Redbank at 10.45pm.

Police had parked nose-to-nose with her Mitsubishi Outlander but Erihe-Schaeffer reversed then drove forward colliding with the front fender and wheel guard of the police car.

She then drove forward again ramming the police car and going between it and bollards before driving off at speed, Mr Shepherd noted.

Erihe-Schaeffer received 10-months jail for the dangerous driving and lesser concurrent jail terms, with an additional two months for failing to attend court.

With four months already spent in custody she was granted parole from August 26. She was disqualified from driving for two years.

She must appear before Ipswich District Court for breaching her previous sentence.