Liam Jade Arthur-Smith: Man charged with armed with intent in Lismore Court

A young man will be released to a town north of Lismore after he was charged with attempting to reverse into another man at speed. However, he will allege it was self-defence.

A North Coast man accused of attempting to mow down another man with his car and instigate a serious police chase has been granted bail.

Liam Jade Arthur-Smith, 27, appeared before Lismore Local Court via videolink for a bail application on Monday.

Mr Arthur-Smith has pleaded not guilty to charges of armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, stalking/intimidation and destroy or damaging property.

He is yet to enter a formal plea for a charge of driving recklessly in a police pursuit.

The charges allegedly relate to an incident in earlier this year where Mr Arthur-Smith attempted to reverse at speed into a Terania Creek man in a domestic-violence related incident.

The court heard from Mr Arthur-Smith’s solicitor Tenika Vakauta that he strenuously denied the allegation and said the victim was not near the car.

Ms Vakauta said Mr Arthur-Smith would allege any actions were those of self-defence as the other man was armed with a hooked weapon which made him the “instigator of violence”.

She said Mr Arthur-Smith’s back passenger door and driver’s side window were damaged as a result of this attack and that she would be seeking out footage of the car for further investigation.

However, NSW police prosecutor Hogan said the victim “feared for his life as (Mr Arthur-Smith) drove towards him”.

She argued bail conditions, which included Mr Arthur-Smith residing with his grandmother in Whian Whian, couldn’t completely mitigate concerns for the victim’s safety.

Sgt Hogan added Mr Arthur-Smith had failed to pull over during the alleged police chase and appeared to be under the influence of drugs at the time.

“The manner of (alleged) driving possessed a real risk to the community,” she said.

Magistrate Jeff Linden acknowledged the charges were of “concern” but said the bail conditions could alleviate risks.

He granted Mr Arthur-Smith bail on the condition he not occupy the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle or go within 10km of the victim’s Terania Creek address.

Magistrate Linden adjourned the matter for mention on September 19 at Lismore Local Court.

Mr Arthur-Smith has also pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited drug and possessing or attempting to possess a restricted prescribed substance and will appear again for those matters on August 22.