Patrick Gooch sentenced for dangerous driving on M5

A driver who decided to speed the M5 and weave in and out of an emergency lane to try and pursue someone who honked at him was caught after motorists tipped off police.

Patrick Gooch, 28, was sentenced at Sutherland Local Court for dangerous driving when he travelled 150km in 100 zone on the M5 after he became enraged someone honked him. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A new father has narrowly avoided jail time after becoming enraged and speeding 150km/h on the M5, weaving between traffic because someone honked at him.

Patrick Clifford Gooch, 28, was sentenced in Sutherland Local Court after he pleaded guilty to driving recklessly/furiously or with a dangerous speed or manner; and for driving while his licence was suspended.

Agreed facts tendered to court said Gooch, who lives in Brighton Le Sands, was driving his mother’s Madza 3 sedan on the M5 Motorway at Riverwood about 3.30pm on January 16, 2022.

He was travelling at an estimated speed above 150km/h in a 100 zone before he quickly changed lanes to overtake another car.

Gooch then crossed an unbroken dividing line and entered the emergency break down lane of the road shoulder before he continued to drive at high speed and overtake cars on two occasions.

Other motorists were so concerned they recorded him on dash camera footage and contacted police.

Police reviewed the footage and officers found Gooch through the car’s registration.

A check of his licence revealed it was suspended due to exceeding demerit points.

The court heard Gooch became “enraged” after another motorist honked a horn at him prompting Gooch to pursue the driver down the motorway.

Patrick Gooch was sentenced to a jail term to be served in the community.

Gooch’s lawyer said her client was a “different man” to the one who committed the offences primarily because he had become a father for the first time, which had been “life changing for him”.

She said he was supporting his partner and children and was working two jobs “to makes ends meet” and they had recently found a rental after months of struggling to secure one.

The court heard Gooch had a previous conviction of dangerous driving from 2017.

The lawyer said Gooch had not committed any offences since July last year which was a significant time for him given he had a lengthy criminal and traffic record consistent with someone who was struggling financially and addicted to drugs.

The court heard at the time of the dangerous driving, Gooch had relationship difficulties and relapsed into drug use but had since stopped.

The lawyer asked if Gooch could be kept in the community to continue his rehabilitation.

Magistrate Jillian Kiely said Gooch’s actions were serious given there would have been a lot of traffic on the busy road.

She had his traffic record was terrible with 17 speeding offences.

Ms Kiely noted Gooch was able to “demonstrate he was capable of changing his way to a significant degree” and had remained drug free.

She therefore sentenced him to a jail term to be served in the community in the form of a 12 month intensive correction order where he must undertake drug relapse prevention and was disqualified from driving for four years.