Mathew McKinnon: Man crashed car after alleged police pursuit
A man who allegedly led officers on a pursuit in a stolen car before colliding with another vehicle, tried to crawl into the back seat to appear as if he was not driving, a court has heard.
Central Coast
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Wearing a hospital gown and sporting a swollen eye and a cut on his forehead Mathew Lee McKinnon faced Gosford Local Court on Monday charged with 10 offences.
About 3.30pm on Saturday, August 22, Traffic and Highway Patrol officers tried to stop a Volkswagen Golf on Bundaleer Crescent, at Empire Bay, after checks revealed it was reported stolen from Lisarow the day before.
When the Volkswagen allegedly failed to stop, a pursuit was initiated and as it continued, a marked police vehicle was allegedly rammed.
Shortly after the pursuit was terminated because of safety concerns, the Volkswagen and a MG station wagon collided on Empire Bay Drive.
The driver and sole occupant of the MG, a 71-year-old man, suffered an arm injury and was taken to Gosford Hospital where he remained at the weekend in a serious but stable condition.
The court heard police observed Mr McKinnon crawl from the driver’s seat into the back seat of the Volkswagen before he was arrested.
The 31-year-old was taken to Gosford Hospital under police guard suffering facial injuries.
His two passengers, Cody Pritchard, 21 and Blake Burling, 27, were taken to Gosford Police Station where they were charged with being carried in conveyance taken without the consent of the owner.
Crash Investigation Unit officers commenced an investigation and later charged Mr McKinnon with 10 offences after he was released from hospital at 2pm on Sunday.
The offences included driving a stolen car, drive while disqualified, police pursuit, use offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention, two counts of negligent driving, not give particulars to other driver, aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, escaping pursuit, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and cause bodily harm by misconduct while driving.
His Legal Aid solicitor applied for bail, stating Mr McKinnon could live with his grandmother and abide by strict bail conditions.
However the police prosecutor opposed bail, telling the court Mr McKinnon had a “history of police pursuits” and showed no regard for disqualification periods.
He said it was “fortunate everyone survived” the crash.
The court heard Mr McKinnon allegedly crossed to the wrong side of the road a number of times during the pursuit, reaching speeds of up to 130km/h in a 60km/h zone and allegedly reversed the Volkswagen into the side of a marked police vehicle to escape a roadblock.
Magistrate Alex Mijovich said Mr McKinnon had a lengthy criminal history and was identified by police and the incident was captured on in-car video making it a strong prosecution case.
He said Mr McKinnon had only been granted parole in June for “similar matters” and “indicated he was not the driver” when police observed him allegedly crawl into the back seat.
He was refused bail to reappear on September 3.
Mr Pritchard was not required to appear via video link and his lawyer did not apply for bail and the matter was also adjourned for two week.
Mr Burling represented himself and was refused bail to appear again next week.
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