Court Hears Officer “Established Roadblock” Before Fatal Collision with
A New South Wales police officer created an unauthorized “roadblock” with his unmarked vehicle, placing it in the path of a trail bike ridden by Indigenous teenager Jai Wright moments before a fatal collision in 2022, a court has heard.
The trial of Sergeant Benedict Bryant, 47, began in the NSW District Court on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of dangerous driving occasioning the 16-year-old’s death.
In his opening address, Crown Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC told the court that on the morning of the crash, a police radio operator had issued a “clear instruction” that there was to be no pursuit of the trail bike.
Mr. Strickland alleged that Sgt. Bryant, despite acknowledging this order, positioned his vehicle to act as “a form of barrier or obstruction.”
The Crown argues that by placing his car in the direct path of Mr. Wright’s bike, the officer engaged in an objectively dangerous act that created the risk of a “potentially catastrophic” collision.
Defence Points to Second Police Vehicle
Sgt. Bryant’s defence counsel, Brent Haverfield, presented a counter-narrative, arguing that it was a second police vehicle at the intersection that created the initial roadblock.
Mr. Haverfield told the court that Mr. Wright was forced to manoeuvre around this other car, which inadvertently directed him into the path of Sgt. Bryant’s vehicle.
The defence is expected to call a witness who was in a nearby rideshare vehicle and present evidence of tyre marks to support this version of events.
The trial, which is being heard by Judge Jane Culver without a jury, is expected to last one week.
The first day of proceedings was attended by dozens of Mr. Wright’s family members and supporters, who held a smoking ceremony outside the Darlinghurst Courthouse before the hearing.
The court was shown confronting CCTV footage of the collision, which caused visible distress to those in the public gallery.