source : the age
A Perth private emergency responder has admitted to causing a head-on crash that injured five people after using unauthorised lights and sirens to speed past traffic and onto the wrong side of the road at more than 100km/h.
Jack Dunn appeared in Joondalup Magistrates Court on Monday charged with aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, four counts of aggravated dangerous driving causing bodily harm and attempting to pervert the course of justice over the crash in Wanneroo last month.
Dunn was the managing director of Rescue Recovery 1, a private first responder company that mainly provided first aid support for events, when he crashed head-on with a Mercedes and injured five people.
He was remanded in custody following his first court appearance last month, after the 30-year-old appeared to suffer a medical episode in the dock when the footage of the crash was played to the court.
Dunn appeared via video link from Hakea Prison on Monday, and was supported in court by his colleagues from Rescue Recovery 1.
He pleaded guilty to all charges, and spoke only to confirm his pleas.
A pre-sentence report has been ordered, and he will appear in court again on January 29.
The court previously heard Dunn had lights and sirens on fitted to his Ford Everest, despite the fact he was not authorised to have them fitted them, nor to run them, and he had activated them on the day of the crash.
Police said Dunn had been called to relieve a Rescue Recovery 1 crew in Jarrahdale, with footage aired in court showing him weaving between cars at speed, crossing over solid white lines and forcing other cars onto the soft edges of Franklin Road.
At one point, he crossed on the wrong side of the road to avoid another car and crashed head-on with a Mercedes.
Five people were injured in the crash, including a child. The woman behind the wheel of the Mercedes suffered broken ribs, and had air pockets in her lungs as a result of the crash.
A police prosecutor said Dunn had gotten out of his car and told the injured occupants he was an off-duty paramedic, and attempted to administer first aid.
Dunn does not have relevant paramedic qualifications. There is no charge relating to this representation.
When police arrived at the scene, Dunn pocketed his dashcam’s memory card and later said he did not know where it was. Police later found it in his pants pocket at the hospital, and he was charged over concealing it to cover up his offending.
All previous mentions of Dunn have been wiped from the company’s website and social media, and his mobile phone number has been taken off the page’s contact information.
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Hannah Murphy is a journalist with WAtoday covering breaking and general news. She previously worked for the ABC in the state’s Kimberley region.Connect via email.
