Jack Holton-Palmer: Coutts Crossing man faces court over police pursuit, drug supply

A northern NSW man reached speeds of more than 175 km/h when he led police on a dangerous road pursuit after he tried a new drug, a court heard.

Grafton Local Court.

A man who tried to flee from police, reaching speeds of up to 175 km/h, did so because he was compelled by a group of unknown “heavyweights” to take a new drug, a court heard.

Coutts Crossing man Jack Holton-Palmer, 29, appeared via videolink at Grafton Local Court on Monday.

Holton-Palmer had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of police pursuit, three counts of driving a car while disqualified, three counts of possessing a prohibited drug, two counts of supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis, using an unregistered car and using an uninsured car.

He was already on a community correction order (CCO) at the time of offending and was on bail for the drug supply offences, which occurred last year.

Arrest: File picture.

According to court documents, Holton-Palmer found himself once again in trouble with the law when police spotted a car crossing an intersection at Villiers St, Grafton at 8.24pm on August 19.

The chase was on and Holton-Palmer sped through a number of red traffic lights as he made his way out of the city, police state in court documents.

Police were forced to terminate the road chase and used a POLAIR chopper to track Holton-Palmer down a series of rural roads.

At one point he came to a stop on Wants Lane, Lavadia, adjacent to Clarence Valley Correctional Centre.

After a brief pause, Holton-Palmer was soon manoeuvring around road spikes, reaching speeds in excess of 175km/h in a 100km/h zone while travelling southbound on the northbound lanes of the Pacific Highway.

“(He) maintained his speed when entering the northbound lanes, travelling against the flow of traffic, narrowly missing a motor vehicle travelling in the opposite direction,” the documents state.

“Should a collision have occurred, (it’s) certain fatalities would have been recorded.”

Holton-Palmer turned onto Kungala Rd, Kungala, proceeding onto the dirt Gilberts Rd and crashed in a ditch near a blueberry farm.

Holton-Palmer “fled the area through bushland on foot” and evaded police for about three hours.

But with the assistance of an aircraft, officers found Holton-Palmer “slumped under the trunk of a large tree that had fallen to the ground”.

Kungala Rd, Kungala. Picture: Google Maps.

In court, defence lawyer Anne-Alece Johnstone said her client was on bail at the time of offending and was struggling to beat a meth addiction.

Ms Johnstone told the court her client had supplied meth to feed his own drug habit, not to profit materially.

On the night of the offending she said Holton-Palmer was taken to a Grafton home which was filled with “out-of-towners” and “heavyweights” he didn’t know.

One of these “heavyweights” directed Holton-Palmer to a table and gave him a “tester” of a drug called “G-liquid”, the court heard.

After he had this drug, Ms Johnstone said her client “felt like he had left his own body” and “needed to run like a jet”.

She told the court before he fell into drug addiction, Holton-Palmer was employed and lived “a good life”.

However, Magistrate Kathy Crittenden said it was also possible to take the view that the drug Holton-Palmer had taken aggravated the seriousness of the police pursuit.

The case was adjourned for sentencing on November 17.

Originally published as Jack Holton-Palmer: Coutts Crossing man faces court over police pursuit, drug supply