Court hears man assumed police after him. They weren’t

When police entered a Rockville property the man wrongly assumed they were looking for him. In an instant he made the ill-fated decision to flee, ramming the officers’ car in the process.

A man only himself to blame after he fled from police and hid in a water tank, earning himself a long term of imprisonment.

WHEN police entered the backyard of a Trapp Street home inquiring about a stolen car, Brodie Robert McDermott assumed they were looking for him, so he legged it.

Yesterday the Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard the 25-year-old man was behind the wheel of a mate’s car and high on meth at the time.

He reversed the car into a boundary fence and rammed a police vehicle before crashing into a second fence.

Police Prosecutor Chris Willson said McDermott fled on foot through several yards before police dogs found him hiding in a rainwater tank.

“He refused to leave the tank,” Mr Willson said.

Eventually police coaxed him out of the tank and took him into custody.

Mr Willson said the ordeal was entirely of McDermott’s making and if he had calmly spoken with police they would have moved on and continued searching for the car.

McDermott pleaded guilty to 11 offences, including dangerous operation of vehicle and trespass.

His lawyer, Joe Millican, told the court McDermott had a difficult upbringing and started consuming drugs and alcohol as a 12-year old.

Magistrate Graham Lee noted that McDermott was exposed to a long period in jail as he was on parole when he rammed the police car.

His parole was suspended two days after his arrest on February 6, meaning he must serve the balance of an 18 month sentence, which will expire on January 4, 2022

Mr Lee ordered a fresh six-month jail term to be served cumulatively and gave McDermott an immediate parole eligibility date.

“It is up to the Parole Board to decide when you are released,” he said.