Fountaindale: Gary David Cosgrove, 45, fled police with ‘unhelmeted’ passenger
A Harley Davidson rider carrying an ‘unhelmeted’ pillion passenger freaked out when he saw police and took off on a high speed pursuit, a court has heard.
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A “family and business man” has been banned from driving for two years after he was doubling a passenger — who was not wearing a helmet — on his black Harley Davidson during a double demerit weekend when he saw police coming the other way and “freaked out”.
Gary David Cosgrove, 45, of Berkeley Vale, faced Wyong Local Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to failing to stop during a police pursuit, carrying a passenger without a helmet and not keeping left of the dividing line.
Upon entering his guilty pleas, a further charge of driving recklessly or furiously was withdrawn and dismissed.
An agreed set of facts states police were patrolling Enterprise Drive at Fountaindale on the Friday before the October long weekend when they saw a black Harley Davidson coming the other way.
“The motorcycle was observed to overtake no less than two vehicles, by travelling over the white painted double lines,” the facts state.
Police activated their lights and sirens before doing a U-turn. At the same time officers heard the “motorcycle accelerate harshly and continue northbound”.
Police initiated a pursuit and caught up to the bike “which was now travelling well in excess of the prevailing 80km/h speed limit and continuing to overtake vehicles however now in a more aggressive and erratic manner, using the painted island and opposing lane”.
Officers formed the view that the rider knew full well he was being pursued and was attempting to flee.
The facts state police obtained the registration plates of the bike and saw the pillion passenger was not wearing a helmet so they backed off as the pursuit approached the roundabout of Redgate Rd.
Officers also got a look at the rider who they described as having a “large build, with distinctive dark brown long dreadlock style hair”.
Fearing for the safety of the rider, his passenger and other road users, police terminated the pursuit but not before recording the chase had lasted a distance of 1.7km and hit an average speed of 105km/h in 60km/h and 80km/h zones.
Police later attended Cosgrove’s Laguna Pde home where he made “full and frank admissions”.
“I just freaked out. I knew he (the pillion passenger) didn’t have a helmet on and there was so much running through my mind,” Cosgrove told police.
Police confiscated the Harley Davidson’s registration plates for three months.
Cosgrove’s lawyer told the court that his client was a family and business man who ran a plasterboard delivery company.
He said Cosgrove was suffering mental health issues as a result of the death of his parents last year.
Magistrate Trevor Khan said there was nothing before the court linking Cosgrove’s mental state with his offending and instead, he just tried to do a runner with an “unhelmeted” passenger on the back.
“This is not an academic exercise,” Mr Khan said.
“This is real life stuff where people die or people are seriously injured and one of the problems is many people run from police because if they get away for long enough police will call off the pursuit and we have to stop that.”
Mr Khan said Cosgrove was not assisted by his traffic record which included a drive with illicit substance and reckless driving convictions in 2009 and a low range drink-driving offence in 2011.
He convicted Cosgrove, disqualified him for two years and fined him a total of $1750.
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