Award-winning director and former Cambodian prisoner James Ricketson fronts Moss Vale court
An award-winning Australian film director who spent more than 15 months in a Cambodian jail will fight a charge before a rural NSW court.
The Bowral News
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An award-winning Australian film and documentary director who spent more than 15 months in a Cambodian jail will proceed to a hearing to fight a charge before a rural NSW court.
James Staniforth Ricketson, 72, appeared in Moss Vale court on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to excessive speeding on the Hume Highway near Mittagong.
Police allege the Palm Beach resident was caught on the speed cameras driving along the highway at a speed of 130 km/hr in a 110 km/hr zone before 8am on April 9.
Police claim the Lidar camera reading is accurate, but the court heard Mr Ricketson denied the allegation.
“I saw the police car at the bottom of the hill and looked down the speedometer and I saw I wasn’t speeding,” he said.
The court heard the police have photographic proof of the alleged offence, however Mr Ricketson said he has wanted to see the evidence. As the images were unavailable in the court, he was invited to make an appointment with the Southern Highlands police to view the speed camera footage.
Magistrate Mark Douglass set a hearing date in the latter half of the year for Mr Ricketson to fight the charge.
Mr Ricketson has famously been in front of a court before, when he travelled to Cambodia to film footage for a documentary. He was arrested for espionage in June 2017 when he innocently flew a drone over a rally against the government in Phnom Penh.
He was convicted in August 2018 and had spent a total of 15 months imprisoned in a Cambodian jail before the authorities pardoned him later that year.
Before his imprisonment, Mr Ricketson won Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts awards for his feature films including Blackfellas (1994) and Reflections (1973).
The award-winning director and documentary filmmaker will return to Moss Vale court on September 10 for the hearing.
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