Rhyse Alexander Southam charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing major power outage in Midge Point
A Whitsunday region man has denied being behind the wheel of his Ford Falcon when it crashed into a telegraph pole and cut off power to 200 residents. When police arrived, he was nowhere to be seen.
Police & Courts
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A Whitsunday region man has denied being behind the wheel of his Ford Falcon when it crashed into a telegraph pole and cut off power to 200 residents in a coastal town between Mackay and Proserpine.
Rhyse Alexander Southam, 31, faced Proserpine Magistrates Court on 13 charges, including five related to January 12 this year.
The court heard Mr Southam’s orange-striped Ford Falcon had crashed into a telegraph pole and a fence on the corner of Bundesen Ave and Jimmy’s Rock Rd at Midge Point, a coastal town between Mackay and Proserpine.
Police alleged no one was with the car when they arrived shortly after the crash at 11:15pm.
An Ergon Energy communications officer at the time said 212 customers had lost power as a result of the incident, with the outage lasting into the next day.
Mr Southam pleaded not guilty to five charges related to that incident including dangerous operation of a vehicle, failing to comply with duties of a driver involved in a crash and give required particulars to police officer, driving without a licence, and driving an uninsured and unregistered vehicle.
Duty lawyer Peta Vernon told the court his legal team was seeking a brief of evidence regarding the charges.
Prosecutor Lachlan Perry said the brief should be handed over to the defence on January 29, to account for “Christmas closures”.
Magistrate Michelle Howard said Mr Southam’s matters had been “around for a while” and asked Ms Vernon about his other charges before the court which included drug-related charges and breaches of bail.
Ms Vernon said she was still waiting for instructions regarding these.
The case was adjourned until February 5 and Mr Southam’s bail was enlarged.
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