Toukley: Drayden Ray Williams appeals sentence for pursuit in stolen Holden Commodore

A man who’s never held a driver’s licence drove a stolen Holden Commodore from Campbelltown to Toukley after taking Xanax before leading police on a pursuit, a court has heard.

A man who’s never held a driver’s licence climbed into the back seat after crashing a stolen car during a police pursuit and began yelling the driver had taken off into the bushes, a court has heard.

Appearing via video link, Drayden Ray Williams faced Gosford District Court on Thursday where he appealed the severity of his 15-month non-parole period imposed by the Local Court in February.

It came after the 25-year-old from Campbelltown in Sydney’s south west pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, stealing a car, leading police on a pursuit and failing to stop and give particulars following a crash.

An agreed set of facts states a purple Holden Commodore was stolen from Moore Park in November last year before the owner contacted Williams on Facebook and asked for his help in getting it back.

Drayden Ray Williams, 25, of Campbelltown, appealed the severity of his sentence after taking Xanax and driving to the Central Coast before leading police on a brief pursuit. Picture: Facebook

He responded with a “thumbs up” emoji but an analysis of his phone, seized after his arrest, revealed Williams was “in possession” of the vehicle before he was asked for his assistance.

He was driving along Main Rd at Toukley about 2pm on December 2 when a police car travelling the other direction noticed the stolen car and performed a U-turn to pull it over.

The facts state Williams took off with the police car activating its lights and sirens.

Williams “weaved between the backstreets” of Toukley for a distance of 1.8km reaching speeds of 103km/h in a 50km.h zone.

Williams took a corner too fast and lost control before slamming into a parked car before heading down a no through road where he crashed into 1.4m tall steel bollards leading into a reserve.

“Mr Williams drove the vehicle into the steel bollards at speed attempting to destroy them and escape via the park,” Judge Tanya Bright told the court.

“The steel bollards gave way but not before causing significant damage to the front of the car.”

The court heard the bollards caused “catastrophic damage” to the undercarriage of the stolen car leaving it “completely disabled”.

Williams faced Gosford District Court on Thursday where he appealed the severity of his sentence. (AAP Image/Sue Graham)

“Mr Williams attempted to flee via the driver’s door before closing it as police approached,” Judge Bright said.

“Mr Williams threw himself into the back of the car before he was pulled from the vehicle and arrested by police. He began yelling the driver of the vehicle had run from the car into bushland.”

Judge Bright said this was “completely invalidated” by police and in-car video which showed he was the driver.

Police found Williams’ mobile phone on the front seat and the vehicle “hot wired” with the ignition barrel hanging from the steering column with a pair of surgical scissors inserted into it.

Williams gave evidence at his appeal, telling the court he had been at the funeral for his best mate’s mum the day before and had taken Xanax which was ‘a crap drug”.

“It was definitely the wrong thing to do,” he said.

The court heard Williams had voluntarily stopped a Buprenorphine program two months prior because he wanted to “get sober” and not become reliant on it long term.

Judge Bright said she accepted Williams wanted to get into a residential rehabilitation program after his release and that he would benefit from a longer period on supervised parole.

“Mr Williams, by driving at speed through the backstreets of Toukley in a residential area, and also an area where there is a 50km/h speed limit created a very significant risk, not only to other road users but also any other members of the public,” she said.

“He not only caused significant damage to the stolen vehicle but to the vehicle to which he collided on the side of the road.”

Judge Bright upheld the appeal and reduced his non-parole period from 15 months to 12 months making him first eligible for release on December 1, 2022.