18-year-old man escapes conviction for Skye’s Law

Lawyer-in-charge: Lara Menon

Our client was an 18-year-old man charged with the infamous Skye’s Law offence – police pursuit (not stop, drive recklessly), low range drink driving and loss of traction (burnout). Following the death of 18-month old Skye when a driver attempting to evade police crashed into the car in which she was travelling, Skye’s Law was introduced in order to provide much harsher penalties for those involved in police pursuits and trying to evade Police. Under the legislation, this offence alone is punishable by 5 years’ imprisonment.

Our client was enlisted in the Australian Army, posted in a Combat Engineer regiment which required intensive driver training. Any criminal conviction would seriously affect his future with the Army and limit his advancement.

Lara appeared in the Local Court of NSW on behalf of our client and made oral submissions as to the adverse effect a criminal conviction would have on our client’s future. Despite less than 1% of these matters avoiding conviction, Lara advocated for our client and convinced the Court that this was a matter which deserved the Court’s leniency. Ultimately the Magistrate agreed and dealt with the matter by way of Conditional Release Order with our client to be on good behaviour for a period of 18 months.