Kody Bell: Dubbo man sentenced for police pursuit, assaults

A Dubbo man caught doing 150km/h in a 60km/h zone while seeking a “sneaky sesh” ended up triggering a costly search effort after he crashed a car and hid in bushes.

Dubbo man Kody Bell has been convicted of a string of offences. Picture: Facebook

A Dubbo man has been sentenced to 12 months behind bars after he left a woman without a tooth, led police on a high-speed pursuit and was found with number plates and iPads which were suspected of being stolen.

Kody Gregory Mitchell Bell, 30, was drinking at a house party on New Year’s Eve last year when he pushed a woman onto a lounge, punched her repeatedly in the face and left her without a tooth.

According to court documents, Bell punched another man who tried to intervene.

While on bail for those two assaults, Bell was spotted walking a stolen motorbike around Dubbo in April this year.

Bell pleaded guilty in Dubbo Local Court. Picture: Jedd Manning

When police found Bell hiding under a vehicle on Fitzroy Street, he told them to “f*** off”.

Police later discovered multiple sets of number plates, believed to have been stolen, in a bag Bell had tied to the front of the motorbike.

On October 10, while on bail, Bell was busted driving a Ford Falcon at speeds of up to 150km/h in a 60km/h zone on Minore Road in the early hours of the morning.

Police tried to get Bell to stop but they lost sight of the vehicle on Rosedale Road, and a short time later it was found on its roof, with a large amount of debris and car parts laying over the road.

Bell was nowhere to be seen and police called in the Rural Fire Service and Volunteer Rescue Association to help search for him.

While the search was underway, police found seven iPads and large tool boxes in the vehicle Bell was driving.

When police caught up with Bell at a home in North Street the morning after the crash, he told them hid in bushes while emergency services crews searched for him.

“You know what, f*** it mate, what happened was, I was creeping around Delroy right, because I wanted a sneaky sesh,” Bell told police.

In court documents police said Bell’s actions “led to a recovery operation that would extended to cost the Australian taxpayer tens of thousands of dollars”.

When Bell went to Dubbo Police Station to be charged on the afternoon of the crash, he told police he “found God and was a changed man”.

Bell was hooked on ice. Picture: iStock

In Dubbo Local Court, Bell pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of possessing goods suspected of being stolen, one count of failing to stop when pursued by police and one count of resisting police.

Defence lawyer William Bruffey told the court Bell had a “relatively privileged upbringing” and struggled with depression.

“Tragically, around the age of 20 or 21 he became involved in drug use and drug addiction,” Mr Bruffey said.

“That started as use of ecstasy, speed, MDMA — party drugs … after a relationship breakdown he experienced depressive mood and started taking hardcore drugs.”

The court heard Bell’s circle of friends changed and he ended up a daily user of ice.

Magistrate Theresa Hamilton convicted Bell and said a sentencing assessment report concluded he was a medium to high risk of reoffending.

Bell was sentenced to an 18-month term of imprisonment, backdated to when he entered custody on October 11.

He will become eligible for parole in October 2021.