Goonellabah man Michael Gordon Foster appeals jail-term, sentenced to correction orders after ATV crash, flood thefts
A North Coast cabinet maker has avoided a jail-term on appeal after stealing fridges during the 2022 floods and causing a harrowing ATV crash which left a woman with brain injuries. Here’s the latest.
Regional News
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A Goonellabah man who left a woman brain damaged in an ATV crash and stole fridges during the harrowing 2022 North Coast floods has avoided a jail-term on appeal.
Michael Gordon Foster, 39, faced Judge Jonathan Priestley in Lismore District Court on Friday, after he was bailed in October, ahead of the appeal
It came after he was sentenced in Lismore Local Court to a year and 10 months in prison with a non-parole period of 16 months.
After four days in jail, Magistrate Michael Dakin released Foster back into the community.
The Lismore area man pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, using an unregistered vehicle on the road, using an uninsured car on the road, and four counts of driving with an illicit drug present in his blood – second offence.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a prohibited drug (cocaine and marijuana), larceny of more than $15,000 and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
His defence lawyer Paul Cranney previously said prison was an “unsafe environment” for Foster.
“He is around people who could hurt him or lead him astray,” he told the court.
Foster stole four fridges worth $9056 from Warrior Refrigeration on Snow St, South Lismore, using a car and trailer, between the February-March flood events in Lismore.
The court was told Foster was caught out on CCTV and in a police raid.
Foster’s offending was offset by his “flood saviour” heroics during the natural disasters.
The cabinet maker spent three days using a tinny to rescue people in February.
The court treated the ATV crash in January 2022 more seriously than the thefts.
Foster’s ex was left badly injured when he crashed an all-terrain vehicle into a post near Bentley with her on-board. She was “screaming in pain”, suffered a fractured cheek and eye socket and permanent loss of hearing, as well as the brain injury.
She spent more than a week in a coma, the court heard.
Foster tried to minimise his responsibility, the court heard.
Mr Cranney said Foster’s lengthy criminal history pointed to a “really bad drug history”.
The court heard it was “hard to appreciate his role as a flood saviour” due to the offending.
Judge Priestley allowed the appeal and swapped jail for a two-year community correction order and 16-month intensive correction order.
He was ordered to undergo substance rehabilitation and disqualified from driving for two years.
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Originally published as Goonellabah man Michael Gordon Foster appeals jail-term, sentenced to correction orders after ATV crash, flood thefts
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