Zoe Mitchell: Yamba woman sentenced for dangerous driving, police pursuit after arrest attempt near Angourie’s Spooky Beach

A young North Coast mother-of-three has narrowly avoided time behind bars after she tried to reverse a car into police officers and pedestrians going about their day. Here’s what happened.

Mitchell was sentenced at Grafton Local Court

A young Clarence Valley mother-of-three has narrowly avoided time behind bars after she tried to reverse a car into police officers and pedestrians going about their day.

Yamba woman Zoe Mitchell, 29, was sentenced at Grafton Local Court on Monday.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to using a weapon to prevent lawful detention, resisting police, unlawfully participating in an outdoor gathering, two counts of driving dangerously, police pursuit and failing to appear.

Zoe Mitchell leaving Grafton Local Court.

Mitchell came to police’s attention when they spotted her car parked out the front of a Yamba home.

This led police to believe Mitchell was staying with a man who she was supposed to be protected from by way of an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO).

The officer’s suspicions were confirmed when police saw Mitchell and the man together in a parked Mazda near Angourie’s Spooky Beach on August 28, 2021.

Police tried to arrest the man and “Mitchell has started her vehicle and proceeded to reverse backwards towards police”.

Officers yelled out “Zoe, don’t” but she “continued to reverse backwards with no regard for the safety of police and two other male pedestrians walking behind her”

The pedestrians narrowly avoided being struck.

Police officers and bystanders were forced to take “evasive action”, court documents state.

Mitchell sped off and police had to call off the dangerous chase.

Mitchell’s offending did not stop there. She accelerated quickly out of town and managed to briefly “speed out of sight”.

Spotted at Yamba, Mitchell “looked directly at police” and: accelerated harshly, heading west on Yamba Rd without giving way to the oncoming vehicles and exceeding the 50km/h speed limit”.

Police followed her out of Yamba, but had to call off the pursuit because of Mitchell’s dangerous driving.

Officers lost sight of her car as it sped away in the direction of the Pacific Hwy.

Zoe Mitchell outside court.

In court, defence lawyer Greg Coombes said there was a “level of duress” involved offending.

He said Mitchell had been a victim of domestic violence in the past, and had expressed remorse for her offending.

Magistrate Annette Sinclair convicted Mitchell and sentenced her to an 18-month community correction order.