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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Hannah Neale

'Panicked': Tasered motorist expressed 'mistrust of police'

A motorist who tried to accelerate away from officers before he was Tasered had an "underlying mistrust of police", a lawyer has argued.

The Tasering caused the man to accelerate again, with police having to run and catch the moving vehicle to turn off the engine.

A still from body worn camera footage shows an officer Tasering Mathew Druett. Picture supplied

Mathew Thomas Druett, 29, faced the start of sentencing proceedings in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday.

Druett, from Surf Beach in NSW, previously pleaded guilty to driving near police being reckless as to their safety, and driving unlicensed.

Agreed facts state about 2.30am in September last year, police saw a silver Holden Captiva driving on Limestone Avenue in Reid.

Officers saw the last letters on both of the car's numberplates were covered by a sticker and pulled the vehicle over.

They then discovered Druett had an expired provisional licence and police checks revealed the numberplates did not match the vehicle.

Druett told an officer he bought the car for $500 from a person in Charnwood the day before and that it had problems with the engine.

Druett had been "polite and cooperative" with police, but when a constable asked him to turn off his vehicle this changed.

The driver turned his steering wheel and accelerated forward, while "fearing his safety" the officer reached through the driver's window and grabbed the key to turn off the car.

A still from footage showing Mathew Druett in the driver's seat. Picture supplied

Druett pushed the officer away and continued to accelerate while the constable's arm was still inside the window.

When the car stopped an officer produced his Taser and yelled at Druett to get out of the vehicle.

When he did not comply, the officer fired his Taser, striking Druett in the chest.

As a result the vehicle accelerated forward and an officer ran after it, removing the keys from the ignition.

Body worn camera footage shows police pull Druett out of the car by grabbing his leg, before he is arrested.

On Thursday, Aboriginal Legal Service lawyer Sam Lynch said his client had spent 140 days in jail while on remand for the crimes, and urged for a suspended sentence.

Mr Lynch said before the arrest Druett was driving a friend home, who had been drinking alcohol.

The lawyer told the court the 29-year-old had "panicked" and shown "a significant error in judgement".

Mr Lynch said the crime stemmed from Druett's "underlying mistrust of police".

"it all happened very quickly and it escalated very quickly," the lawyer told the court.

A police officer approaches the vehicle. Picture supplied

Prosecutor Taden Kelliher argued Druett and police had been "mutually polite to each other", before the motorist tried to evade arrest when he was told to turn off the vehicle.

"The police officers were doing nothing wrong, they were going about their lawful business," Mr Kelliher said.

Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson spoke directly to Druett before he was escorted from the courtroom.

"Rehabilitation is important not just to you ... but to our entire community because jail should not be just a revolving door," she said.

Justice Loukas-Karlsson is set to hand down her sentence on Friday.

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