Gosford Court: Steven Chapman convicted of weapons offences after jail time for trial bike crash

A Central Coast man who spent more than a year in jail after running down a boy on a trail bike and leaving him for dead has been convicted again. Read the details.

Emergency services at Parsons Road, Lisarow, where an 11-year-old boy was hit by a trail bike ridden by Chapman in 2015. Picture: David Cleverly.

A Central Coast man who was sentenced to two and a half years jail for failing to stop after ploughing into a boy, 11, on an unregistered, uninsured trail bike, has pleaded guilty to weapons offences.

Appearing via video link at Gosford Local Court on Thursday, Steven Chapman confirmed pleas of guilty to three counts of using a prohibited weapon and one count of acquiring ammunition while subject to a firearm prohibition order.

The 41-year-old initially denied the offences, but changed his pleas to guilty and was sentenced to three months jail with a non-parole period of two months.

With time served since his arrest in March, Chapman was released from custody at the completion of his matter.

It comes almost seven years after Chapman, of Woy Woy, irrevocably changed a young boy’s life. He rounded a corner from the Pacific Highway onto Parson Rd, at Lisarow, on a 450CC KTM trail bike and crashed straight into the boy shortly after 2pm on June 21, 2015.

The scene of the hit-and-run at Lisarow in 2015 when Chapman fled after hitting the young boy.

The boy was crossing the road with friends at the time.

The force of the collision knocked him off his feet and Chapman pulled up momentarily and looked back before riding off towards Newling St.

The boy was flown to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, where he remained for several days in an induced coma with a shattered skull.

Chapman went on the run for 10 days before he was arrested and, after being granted bail, he was about to face trial in 2016 — having pleaded not guilty to a raft of traffic offences — when he absconded.

Three years and nine months after the crash, and on the eve of a second trial, Chapman pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, not giving particulars, disqualified driving, riding an unregistered and uninsured trail bike on a public road and failing to stop and assist after a crash.

He was sentenced in Newcastle District Court in March 2019 to two and a half years jail, with a non-parole period of one year and four months.

The boy was taken to a nearby oval where he was loaded onto a helicopter and flown to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. Picture: CareFlight

His criminal record, tendered in Local Court on Thursday, shows he was first eligible for release on June 27, 2019.

An agreed set of facts states Chapman was in a relationship with a woman at Umina Beach when police obtained a warrant to search her house on March 17 this year.

The facts state, after his release from prison, Chapman became subject to a firearm prohibition order in August 2021, preventing him from using or acquiring prohibited weapons.

In a bedroom of his girlfriend’s house, police found a flick knife that Chapman said was for his work as a carpet layer.

“The flick knife had a blade that opens automatically upon pressing a button,” the facts state.

“The accused stated this style of knife is better so it doesn’t cut him while in his pocket. The accused claimed he found the knife in a work vehicle and has kept it since. The accused claimed he was not aware this knife was a prohibited weapon.”

Police also found two slingshots and a zip lock bag containing 14 rounds of various ammunition in a set of drawers.

Chapman told police he found the slingshots and ammunition while cleaning.

The court heard the slingshots and ammunition belonged to a former partner of his girlfriend who failed to take them when he moved out.

The magistrate on the case said Chapman should have known they were illegal regardless of where they came from.