Shepparton’s Shiloh Weston pleaded guilty in County Court after leading police on dangerous chase
A Shepparton man recently let out of jail on parole has led police on a wild chase through Echuca in a stolen car.
Goulburn Valley
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A man barely two weeks out on parole for a serious offence led police on a dangerous chase in a stolen vehicle, a court has heard.
Shiloh Weston, 22, pleaded guilty to a stack of charges in the County Court on Monday, including reckless conduct endangering death.
Weston also pleaded guilty to the theft of a motor vehicle and a motorbike, as well as possession of methamphetamine.
Weston led a dangerous and potentially deadly chase in a stolen white ute through Echuca on December 3 2022, with police chopper vision of the chase shown in court.
Prosecutor Andrew McHenry showed the harrowing vision of Weston’s driving, where at its worst he drove for at least several hundred metres on the wrong side of the road, endangering seven oncoming vehicles.
Weston was evading police after a member of the public noticed a stolen Kawasaki motorbike on the back of the white ute that had been stolen days before.
Tom Acutt, Weston’s lawyer, said Weston did not know he was being chased by police as they did not switch their lights on, which led to a heightened sense of panic.
Mr Acutt also said while “that doesn’t excuse his behaviour, but it does show how it put him in a difficult position”, as he did not know who was following him, leading to a sense of paranoia while he was high on meth.
The matter was heard in the Koori Court where he received advice from Indigenous elders.
“You’ve been getting yourself in trouble for a long time”, elder Aunty Pam said
Aunty Pam also questioned Weston, asking “Aren’t you sick of being inside?”, before saying “You could kill someone”.
Mr Acutt pushed for a lenient sentence due to Weston’s intellectual disability.
Mr Acutt hoped that the 416 days Weston had already served in custody would be punishment enough.
Mr McHenry countered Mr Acutt by saying “that course would set him up to return to precisely the same behaviour”.
Judge Michael Cahill said there had to be some sort of imprisonment due to the seriousness of the offending, but also one that could help him stay out of trouble upon his release.
He had previously failed to comply with other attempts at parole, with his longest stint in the community lasting just four weeks.
Weston will be sentenced by Justice Cahill on January 31.
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