Timmy Rakei fatal: Melbourne Supreme Court bail application for Ashley Powell
Alleged getaway driver who allegedly helped mate evade police arrest after a fatal hit-run in Carrum Downs has faced court.
South East
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A man accused of aiding the driver in the hit-run death of a beloved father of four in Carrum Downs in late 2021, has been granted bail.
Ashley Powell, 25, fronted the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Wednesday, facing multiple charges involving the alleged hit-run death of 44-year-old Timmy Rakei.
During his bail application, the court heard police believe co-accused Jason Ruscoe, 30, contacted Powell via WhatsApp to pick him up from the crime scene, telling Powell that he had ‘hit a tree’, on the morning following the incident in November 2021.
A witness told police Powell was driving with his infant son on his lap at the time of the crime.
Powell and Ruscoe allegedly got away in a black Hyundai with cloned plates, driving in the wrong direction, nearly missing police vehicles and officers, and subsequently evading arrest.
Phone location records allegedly placed Powell and Ruscoe at the same location for some hours after the incident, and later at a park where witnesses had reported seeing two men burning a pile of clothes.
Police were able to recover some of the clothing from the blaze, which was seen on both Powell and Ruscoe in CCTV footage taken of them earlier in the day.
Powell is also alleged to have been on bail for a different offence at the time of the incident, and was driving on a disqualified license.
Powell was released into the supervision of his grandfather, Daniel Powell, 71, under strict bail conditions.
“I will support him as much as I can,” Daniel Powell said.
“I don’t want him to go near the riffraff that he’s previously been involved with.”
Mr Powell said his grandson fell into the wrong crowd when he turned 17, and he had been trying to get him back onto the right path.
A strict curfew and a ban on travelling outside Victoria are among the extensive list of conditions of the bail conditions.
Justice Lex Lasry told Powell to take the conditions seriously, and put his grandfather into consideration
“He’s gone out on a limb for you and is taking some responsibility for you,” Justice Lasry said.
“The least you can do is to repay what he’s doing for you by complying with these orders.
“You’re lucky to have him do you understand that?”
Ruscoe has not applied for bail and remains in custody. Powell will return to court later in the week.
