Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
A young man who was “lucky” not to kill five friends in what would have been the city’s second horror crash in as many weeks has been granted bail, after a magistrate disputed police claims he had been drinking at the wheel.
Jordan Tye Maaka, 18, lost control of his Honda Accord while coming around a bend on Stoney Creek Rd at Beverly Hills, in Sydney’s west, about 5.55am on Friday – crashing through the front fence of a home before bouncing into a power pole.
Maaka broke his left arm in the crash while his four passengers – two girls, both aged 16, and two boys aged 15 and 16 – suffered injuries including a fractured pelvis, a fractured collar bone and a cut so deep to one of their throats that their jaw bone was visible. rom his bed at Liverpool Hospital, where he was under police guard, the teenage driver faced Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday.
During the hearing the court was told incredible details about the crash, including that police allege Maaka “was consuming alcohol while driving” and references to the wake of the horror Buxton crash that took five lives just 10 days earlier.
“It is only through sheer good luck that the collision did not result in the death of all five teenagers,” part of the police fact sheet read.
NSW Police prosecutor William Jarbeau opposed Maaka’s application for bail, telling the court the accused had a suspended licence at the time of the crash – albeit due to unpaid fines.
“Not only was he driving dangerously, but he had no licence, so should not have been driving at all,” Mr Jarbeau said. “It occurred within two weeks of the other incident when five young people died (at Buxton). “We say the community has certainly had enough of this type of incident involving death and injury.” Mr Jarbeau also showed to the court a Google Maps image which he alleged depicted the distance between the bend in Stoney Creek Rd and the house the car crashed into, and therefore supported the allegation the car was speeding. In a rarely seen move, it led Magistrate Sharon Holdsworth to step down from the bench and walk down to behind the bar table, where she viewed the laptop screen alongside Mr Jarbeau and Maaka’s solicitor. But in granting bail Magistrate Holdsworth slammed the efforts of investigators who drafted the fact sheet relied on in court, saying that despite referencing allegations about speeding and alcohol use, there was “no evidence” to in the document to support that. “In my view these facts are poorly drafted in relation to substantiating the charges laid,” she said. “There’s no evidence to substantiate speed or the consumption of alcohol. I can see no evidence pointing to the misconduct of the individual (Maaka) while in charge of the motor vehicle. “Certainly the number of impacts might give rise to speeding … but I don’t accept that by looking at Google Maps, the court can draw the inference of excessive speed.” Maaka was granted bail but ordered to be in the company of his mother whenever he is not at home, unless he is going to his job loading trucks in a Fantastic Furniture factory. Maaka is charged with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm, three counts of causing a bodily injury in charge of a motor vehicle, and driving whilst suspended, and is due to next face Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday.
