Porsche Driver Pusey in Fatal Melbourne Crash Let Out

Porsche Driver Pusey in Fatal Melbourne Crash Let Out
Richard Pusey, the driver of a Porsche who allegedly fled the scene of a truck crash on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway which killed four police officers, is taken away from his Fitzroy property by police in Melbourne, Australia, on April 23, 2020. AAP Image/Michael Dodge
AAP
By AAP
Updated:
Porsche driver Richard Pusey will walk from custody as he fights charges over a fatal crash that left four Melbourne police officers dead.
Pusey will stand trial for offences including outraging public decency, and reckless conduct endangering serious injury and life.

Prosecutors said the 42-year-old filmed the aftermath along Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway on April 22, and could be heard telling one dying officer: “There you go. Amazing, absolutely amazing.”

The mortgage broker is not accused of causing the crash.

He escaped injury when a truck ploughed into four police officers who had pulled him over for allegedly speeding at 149 kilometres (92 miles) per hour and a drug test.

Pusey left the scene in someone else’s car and shared the footage with others, including a federal police officer he knew, before deleting it, prosecutors said.

His lawyer Dermot Dann didn’t dispute he filmed the scene and said “horrible things” but argued this did not amount to a charge of outraging public decency.

Charges including failing to render assistance after the crash, perverting the course of justice, destroying evidence and committing an indictable offence on bail were dismissed earlier this week.

Pusey was granted bail in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday. It was his second bail attempt.

Magistrate Donna Bakos cited factors including onerous conditions in prison and a delay of up to three years before trial due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She added Pusey had stable accommodation and family support.

Victoria Police wanted him to remain in custody. Senior Constable Aaron Price accused him of displaying an “incredible disregard” to the safety of others on the road.

Pusey is accused of having a device in his car to prevent the speed of his vehicle being measured.

He previously boasted to a mate about speeding 300 kilometres per hour along the Eastern Freeway a month before the fatal crash, the court was told.

Price described Pusey as a “manipulative, controlling man” who harassed and verbally abused people when he didn’t get his way.

He will be banned from driving and must abide by a curfew and undergo psychiatric treatment as part of his bail conditions.

He has been committed to stand trial in the County Court.

By Georgie Moore