Simon Tu: Berala drug runner who crashed into cops jailed
A “hopeless” drug runner who crashed into police cars while he had more than $130 million of ice in his van has been jailed. A court heard it was the “shambolic” criminal’s terrible driving which led to his arrest.
The Express
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A “hopeless” and “shambolic” Sydney drug runner who crashed a van filled with 260kg of ice into parked police cars has been jailed.
Simon Tu, 28, from Berala, had been driving a white Toyota Hi-ace van when he veered on the wrong side of the road and crashed into two parked police cars at Eastwood police station at 10.36am on 22 July 2019.
After the crash he dashed off before police spotted his van at Blaxland Road about an hour later.
When questioned, Tu told police he had a “microsleep” and said he didn’t stop because he claimed he didn’t know he had hit a police car.
“He appeared to be avoiding eye contact nervous shaking and fidgety,” court facts state.
Police later found 260kg of crystal methylamphetamine packed in several cardboard boxes in the van.
When Tu was questioned by police an officer said “Someone isn’t going to be happy” before asking him “Do you know how much it’s worth?” to which Tu replied “a lot.”
CCTV footage of the van crashing into the parked police cars went viral on social media at the time with people dubbing him one of Australia’s ‘dumbest’ criminals.
Donning his prison greens, Tu kept his head low as the judge recited the facts during his sentence at the Downing Centre on Friday.
Judge Penelope Hock said the maximum sentence was life imprisonment for the drug offence and said it was an “enormous quantity” saying he “must have been aware” it was a significant quantity given the number of boxes in the van.
The total amount of drugs was worth $130 million in street value, she said.
The judge said she accepted the facts stated he had no other role than as a driver for the drugs but she took aim at Tu saying he acted on “self interest” and noted the consequences of drugs on the community.
Tu confirmed his pleas of guilty to supplying a large commercial drug supply as well as negligent driving and not giving particulars to police at Sydney’s Downing Centre on Thursday.
The court heard Tu had been using cocaine and was a gambler who was running his family business and was “owing money.”
His lawyer Phillip Boulten SC said he seemed to have “connections to the drug world” through his drug use and that he undertook a “very risky job.”
“It was shambolic and negligent. His driving is what gave it all away.”
“His role was to drive and in some senses it was a hopeless execution...”
According to police facts the officers found a piece of paper that said Pizza Hut and the address of the Eastwood pizza joint.
Tu later told police he was a food delivery driver who had picked up a delivery at Eastwood’s Pizza Hut and was delivering it to “other parts” of Sydney.
Judge Hock sentenced him to six years and six months in jail with a non parole period of four years.
Tu will be eligible for parole in July 2023.