A police officer who was accused of travelling at 230 km/h on a highway north of Melbourne has had two of his four charges dropped.
According to reports, in March 2021, Leading Senior Constable Bradley Beecroft travelled for eight minutes at an average speed of 205 km/h in order to reach the scene of a collision involving another police officer on the Hume Highway close to Euroa.
Prosecutor Anna Dearman dismissed the indictable allegations of reckless conduct endangering serious injury and reckless conduct threatening life before Wangaratta Magistrates Court today, leaving the accusations of careless driving and speeding to be heard in 2019.
Senior Constable Beecroft, a highway patrolman and police officer of 16 years, has not disputed driving faster than 200 km/h, but his defence attorney James Anderson argued the speeds may be viewed as reasonable given the circumstances.
Senior Constable Beecroft had a gold class licence, which enables authorised law enforcement to travel at any speed.
Anderson stated that “Mr. Beecroft was operating in accordance with his training.”
He was taught how to drive at any pace.
No one in the public complained about the driving, and the officer who was with Senior Constable Beecroft claimed in a statement that he did not think the driving was risky.
Anderson said that he has so far been denied access to the Victoria Police training manual regarding pursuits and urgent duty driving.
Why don’t police tell their officers that you just cannot travel at 200 km/h?
“Why do they give them an unlimited licence in a car that can go at 305 km/h and then commence a criminal prosecution against them when they drive in accordance with their training?” he said.
After a contest mention on January 12, Magistrate Peter Dunn announced that the remaining accusations of speeding and reckless driving would be heard from June 26 to June 29, 2023.
I urge you all to keep trying to find a solution to the problem, Mr. Dunn added.
“Mr Beecroft’s life has been placed on hold pending the outcome. “.
Australian policeman escapes prosecution after driving 230 km/h on the highway
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