Police officers have packed a Canberra courtroom to support three colleagues after the trio was mowed down by a mentally ill driver, who claims to be "deeply" remorseful.
One officer appeared to cry in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday, when startling footage of the incident was screened during the offender's sentence proceedings.
Video captured by a camera at the rear of a police car shows the three officers talking beside Lady Denman Drive, near the National Arboretum, on July 11, 2021.
The trio had just cautioned a driver for a minor traffic infringement when a green Ford Laser driven by Hawker man Thomas Matthews, 31, swerved off the road and struck them.
Court documents show Matthews applied the brakes with "maximum force" prior to the impact, at which time his car was travelling at 18 or 19km/h.
The consequences were still severe, with a detective leading senior constable suffering a spinal fracture after his head hit the Ford's windshield and he was thrown to the ground.
The detective had been training two constables, who had only just graduated from the police academy, in ACT Policing's traffic procedures at the time of the incident.
One of the new recruits wound up underneath Matthews' car, which pinned her to the ground. She suffered three separate leg fractures and required surgery that will leave her with permanent scarring.
Miraculously, her fellow constable escaped with only a bruise to the left thigh.
The driver who had just been cautioned jumped out of his car after seeing what had happened. He helped free the trapped officer and restrained Matthews for police.
Matthews, who had been on bail at the time of the incident, was arrested at the scene and remanded in custody on charges that included three counts of attempted murder.
Those charges were dropped and replaced last November with two counts of causing grievous bodily harm by a negligent act, to which Matthews pleaded guilty.
The offender spent more than 16 months behind bars on remand before entering the pleas and being granted bail.
At Tuesday's sentence hearing, the court heard Matthews had been the subject of emergency action under the Mental Health Act about two months before his crimes.
He was experiencing "persecutorial delusions" about police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, prompting his concerned mother to seek treatment for him.
Her contact with ACT Mental Health resulted in police visiting Matthews, who lit a fire in a Bruce apartment and threatened officers with a knife when they attempted to detain him.
That May 2021 incident, over which Matthews was charged but later acquitted by reason of mental impairment, led to him being diagnosed with schizophrenia.
He was subsequently prescribed an inappropriate combination of medications, which left him experiencing blurred vision and what he called "blackouts".
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson SC said Matthews knew he should not have been behind the wheel because of these side-effects in July 2021, but "he chose to drive anyway".
Defence barrister Jack Pappas argued, however, that no-one had told Matthews not to drive.
Mr Pappas suggested Matthews had "panicked" upon seeing police and pulled over because "he thought he might be in trouble".
The defence barrister tendered a letter from his client, who wrote: "I deeply regret the decision to drive while the medication was affecting me so severely."
He also said Matthews had not deliberately broken the law and was now doing everything that could be expected of him in terms of compliance with mental health treatment.
Mr Pappas ultimately submitted a jail sentence was not warranted in the circumstances.
Mr Williamson disagreed but did not push for Matthews to serve further time behind bars.
He encouraged Chief Justice Lucy McCallum to consider an intensive correction order.
The judge said the number of police officers in court showed the incident had caused "a great deal of angst and upset".
She indicated she planned to sentence Matthews on March 17.
