Man serving a jail sentence for a drug-fuelled police chase was back before a judge for a sales con
A car thief who led police on a terrifying, high-speed chase the wrong way along the EastLink has faced Dandenong Magistrates’ Court over an $800 car-wheels rip-off.
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A car thief who led police on a terrifying chase the wrong way down EastLink at 140km/h with no lights has faced court over an $800 Gumtree scam.
Nathan Graeme Russell, who is currently serving a long jail sentence for the death-defying drug-fuelled pursuit last year, ripped off a Queensland man wanting to buy his car wheels.
After he got the cash through bank transfer he was supposed to send the Holden rims via courier to the buyer, but didn’t and pocketed the money.
Russell, 34, pleaded guilty to a deception charge and breaching a community corrections order at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on February 3.
His defence lawyer told the court that the April 2018 deception offence predated the police chase and it should have been included in his County Court sentence.
He said the father-of-two, former mechanic, who has a significant history of drug abuse dating back to his teenage years, was remorseful for the rip-off.
He said Russell began using cannabis at 15 before progressing to ice, GHB and speed, substances which were behind his offending.
He said a police request for the $800 to be paid back to the buyer was pointless as he did not have any funds, and wouldn’t have for the next six years at least.
Magistrate Doug Bolster said the deception charge and the breach both deserved prison terms, but because he was already undergoing a long sentence, they would run alongside.
Russell was jailed for a total of five months to run concurrently.
He will be eligible for parole in 2026.
At the County Court in November last year Russell was given eight years and nine months behind bars with a non-parole period of seven years for what Judge Michael McInerney described as “the worst driving he had seen in 20 years”.
During the frightening incident in the early hours of March 9 2019 Russell drove at 140km/h the wrong way down EastLink with no lights on in a stolen Nissan ute, appearing to swerve at oncoming traffic.
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After he got off the freeway he crashed into a car, then raced through a Scoresby factory and smashed into another vehicle at a Keysborough service station before trying to carjack another car, threatening the driver with a crowbar.
That failed and he was arrested in a nearby car wash and found to be under the influence of GHB.