Blue Haven: Sgt Matthew Kelly ’deliberately hit’ trail bike’s back wheel, causing Jack Robert’s death; Crown says

A senior police officer “deliberately hit” the back wheel of a trail bike during a pursuit which caused the rider’s death, a court has heard.

A senior police officer intended to “deliberately hit” the back wheel of a trail bike during a pursuit, causing the rider’s death and then blocked out the painful memory of doing so, a court has heard.

However the officer’s legal defence argued there was no evidence he deliberately hit the bike, the collision was at a low speed of 30-40km/h and the honest officer’s account of what happened was beyond reproach.

The Crown and defence have closed their respective cases involving a police officer charged with the manslaughter of a trail bike rider following a pursuit on the Central Coast in 2020.

Tuggerah Lakes Sergeant Matthew James Kelly has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of 28-year-old trail bike rider Jack Roberts by gross criminal negligence and not guilty to an alternative charge of dangerous driving occasioning death in the Downing Centre District Court.

Sgt Kelly was accused of deliberately hitting the back wheel of the motorcycle. Picture: Richard Noone

Crown Prosecutor Craig Everson told the jury Sgt Kelly, 50, of Kariong, said in his police interview some three weeks after the crash on April 16, 2020, that he “formed the intention of stopping that cycle” and was bracing to do just that when the rider turned off Doyalson Link Rd into Blue Haven Way about 2.30am.

Mr Everson told the jury Sgt Kelly planned on “hitting his back wheel and causing the vehicle to stop”, which he did with fatal consequences.

He told the jury another motorist had seen the fully marked Kia Sorento police car clip the back wheel of the trail bike earlier in the pursuit and the rider having to put his foot out to steady himself.

Mr Everson said Sgt Kelly’s recollection of the events the rider crossed onto the wrong side of Blue Haven Way and ended up pinned face-up under the police car, was “flawed” compared with other witnesses and evidence which proved the rider ended face down under the vehicle.

The prosecutor said Sgt Kelly himself expressed an “inability and frustration” to recall the exact moment his police car and the bike collided, which stemmed from a psychological repression of the memory and the reality was he deliberately struck the rider.

Mr Everson told the jury the Crown had to prove all the elements of the charge of manslaughter beyond reasonable doubt, including that Sgt Kelly had ignored procedures to inform police radio of the pursuit and turned into Blue Haven Way without his lights or sirens activated.

He said Sgt Kelly’s manner of driving was a “wicked act” which fell so far short of what a reasonable person would do in the circumstances it warranted criminal punishment.

The marked police car Sgt Kelly was driving, which was involved in the crash. Source: Channel 9

He said the elements of the alternative charge were also made out given Sgt Kelly’s own admissions that he engaged the rider in a pursuit, chased him over a considerable distance of about 10km and he was in breach of NSW Police’s safe driving policies.

Sgt Kelly’s defence barrister however argued his client was a “truly honest person” who took an oath to enforce the law when he joined the police 17 years ago.

He said Sgt Kelly noticed a trail bike, without headlights on heading towards the M1 motorway at 2am — against a backdrop where it was known unregistered trail bikes were used to by drug dealers — before following the bike.

Sgt Kelly at an earlier court appearance. Picture: Richard Noone

He said the motorist who claimed to witness Sgt Kelly’s vehicle nudge the bike earlier in the pursuit did not mention it in his police statement and the rider, Mr Roberts, was “as high as a kite on meth”, in possession of bags of `ice’, a knife and was riding an unregistered bike while unlicensed.

“Not someone who wants to be stopped by police one would think,” he said.

He said Sgt Kelly did nothing that could be described as unreasonable or warrant criminal punishment and there was no evidence the rider died of anything but a cardiac arrest which could have stemmed from the “lethal” amount of methylamphetamine in his system.

Jack Roberts, 28, was killed. Picture: Facebook

He said Sgt Kelly was “the decent, honest cop we all admire” and had not attempted to hide anything during the investigation.

He said the “red herring” of what Sgt Kelly told police, relating to his thoughts of hitting the back wheel of the bike, were in his mind and there was no evidence to suggest that is what happened.

“All the evidence is contrary to that,” he told the court.

“You have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt... that the evidence satisfies that test that it was deliberate. It can’t be done on this evidence.”