Jesse Clark: Serial driving offender charged after allegedly being found with homemade tomahawk on Easter Saturday

A Nowra man charged seven times since April for driving while disqualified has faced a South Coast court after allegedly being found with a homemade tomahawk on Easter Saturday.

A Nowra man whose atrocious driving record has landed him in court seven times since April has faced fresh charges after police allegedly discovered a homemade tomahawk weapon in his possession on Easter Saturday.

Jesse Clark faced the Nowra Local Court on June 6 for a number of driving, drug, and weapons offences, including seven counts of driving while disqualified and possession of a deadly weapon.

Resembling a tomahawk, or type of small axe, the weapon was allegedly discovered next to Clark’s gear stick during a routine traffic stop, and was fashioned out of a sharpened metal bicycle brake disc secured to a wooden handle with a black rubber grip.

“The weapon could be described as an improvised axe or tomahawk and measured at 40cm long,” according to police documents.

“Police showed the weapon to the accused and he told police: ‘I‘ve been jumped a few times and it’s for protection’. The accused admitted he had made the weapon.”

Clark is alleged to have been living in his car and was then on parole.

The discovery came while police were conducting a stationary speed check on Windand Rd in Windang at around 10am on April 16, according to police documents.

Officers allegedly spotted the driver of a Holden Commodore driving with a mobile phone in his right hand, while travelling 65km/h in a 60km/h zone, according to police documents.

Nowra Police Station. Picture: Google

Police were unable to locate the vehicle amid heavy holiday traffic, but they allege checks revealed the driver to be Jesse Clark, whose licence has been disqualified until September 2024.

Around 20 minutes later, police were stationary at the traffic lights intersection at Purr Purr Ave, Lake Illawarra when the vehicle was seen stationary in another lane.

“Police approached the driver who told police, ‘I knew you were going to pull me over, so I stopped’,” police documents state.

Clark allegedly admitted to officers to having smoked cannabis that morning, and upon testing received a positive result for meth. He allegedly further told officers he was travelling to Nowra to pick up a friend.

“Clarke was told by police he shouldn’t be driving. He accepted this and commented: ‘That’s what the officer told me this morning in Wollongong. I’ve got the papers he gave me in the car’,” police documents state.

Earlier that morning, Clark was allegedly stopped by police on Bellevue Rd in Figtree, providing the response that he was again picking up a friend.

“The accused was asked to produce his licence. The accused said: ‘I don’t have one, I just picked my friend up. I’m in the process of trying to work it all out with RMS’,” police documents state.

On June 3, Clark was stopped again.

Police were patrolling an area in North Nowra at around 10pm when they spotted a Holden Commodore, which stopped after a while following signals from police.

“Police conducted a search of the accused which revealed a small resealable plastic bag in his left hand side pocket. The bag contained a small oval-shaped white tablet,” police said.

“The accused told police the tablet was Seroquel (Quetiapine) - a prohibited drug - and that he did not have a prescription for the drug. He was taken to Nowra Police Station.”

Clarke was refused bail and remains in custody.

Pleas have not been entered for the driving while disqualified and weapons offences.