Lawyers, police disagree over CCTV footage of alleged offender

A defence lawyer attempted to poke holes in the police prosecutors’ case by saying CCTV footage of her client’s alleged offending was too blurry to be relied upon. The magistrate did not see things her way.

Dean Robert Hurle was denied bail for the second time.

DEAN Robert Hurle had his second attempt at bail knocked back after his lawyer failed to convince a magistrate that CCTV images of her client’s alleged offending were too grainy to be relied upon to identify him.

Hurle is facing charges of having twice driven a black Commodore while disqualified, on February 15 and 16.

It is further alleged that Hurle sped off when police moved to intercept him on February 16, leading to charges for evading police and dangerous driving.

Magistrate Graham Lee first denied Hurle’s bail on February 18, citing his four-and-half-page criminal history that included 20 previous breaches of bail and two convictions for failing to appear in counts.

Yesterday Hurle’s lawyer, Claire Graham, argued that freshly obtained CCTV footage from two business where her client was alleged to have refilled the Commodore, namely the Gowrie One Stop Shop and Meringandan Produce, cast doubt on the police case.

Ms Graham told the Toowoomba Magistrates Court that footage did not clearly identify her client, and as a result, the police case would rely solely on the officers who observed a man speeding off in the Commodore.

In response, police prosecutor Jessica Lynch said the CCTV footage from the February 16 offence was clear and that police had further lines of inquiry to pursue, that would include showing the footage to witnesses.

Sgt Lynch added that staff at Meringandan Produce told police they recognised Hurle “as a local”.

Magistrate Graham Lee denied Hurle bail for a second time, saying the Meringandan Produce footage was clear and was unlikely to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.

Hurle will be held in custody until his next court date, in April and no plea was entered.