Melbourne lawyer Rachelle Badour-Taha charged with attempting to pervert course of justice
A Melbourne lawyer has been charged over a link to a police chase which started with a Land Rover driving erratically in the Domain Tunnel.
Police & Courts
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A Melbourne lawyer is among four people charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice over a police pursuit which started in the Domain Tunnel.
Members of the VIPER Taskforce have charged Rachelle Badour-Taha, 25, after an investigation which began with the attempted interception of a grey Land Rover allegedly seen driving dangerously in the tunnel on February 26.
The four-wheel-drive is alleged to have not stopped and headed east, fleeing police at the Burnley exit at 1pm.
Police will allege the vehicle’s registered owner, a 22-year-old Box Hill woman, later nominated a 23-year-old Reservoir man as the driver.
That man was arrested in April and is accused of saying he was behind the wheel, before admitting he had fraudulently nominated himself.
He told investigators he had been asked to fraudulently identify himself as the driver by a 25-year-old Lalor woman who police will allege is Ms Badour-Taha.
Highway patrol later identified the real driver as a 31-year-old Wheelers Hill man and officers from VIPER became involved, carrying out warrants on homes in Reservoir, Lalor, Blackburn and Bayswater North.
Ms Badour-Taha and a 23-year-old Reservoir man were charged on Tuesday with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
“Investigators will allege the 25-year-old Lalor woman recruited the 23-year-old Reservoir man to nominate himself for a driving offence committed by another person,” a Victoria Police statement said.
A 22-year-old Box Hill woman and the 31-year-old Wheelers Hill man have been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and dangerous driving while pursued by police.
The fresh charges come as Ms Badour-Taha and her ZD Legal colleague Zoe Davis were earlier this year charged with perverting the course of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
They are alleged to have submitted false documents to a suburban court which asserted their client was in hospital when they should have been before a magistrate.
The pair, both wearing white pants suits, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon, where they sought an adjournment to December while police continued to prepare the brief of evidence.
Prosecutor Anne-Marie Stephanides said investigators were still going through the computers from the firm.
“There are a significant number of documents in the computer analysis that may become relevant,” she said.
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