‘Most hated man in Australia’: Richard Pusey gets 10-month jail sentence for mocking cops as they lay dying at crash

Pusey filming the dead officers could be heard saying “he’s smashed,” “justice,” “absolutely amazing” and “beautiful”
Richard Pusey, right, is taken away from his home property by police in Melbourne
AP

A Porsche driver in Australia has been jailed for the “heartless” filming of four police officers who lay dying after they were hit by a truck.

Richard Pusey, who had been pulled over for speeding, avoided injury because he was urinating behind a bush at the time of the fatal traffic stop smash on a Melbourne freeway.

Instead of helping the dying officers, he filmed them remarking “he’s smashed,” “justice,” “absolutely amazing” and “beautiful.”

“I think everyone got cleaned up,” Pusey said. “I guess I’ll be getting a ... Uber home, huh.”

When one of five bystanders who came to the aid of the stricken officers asked Pusey to help, he replied: “They’re dead,” and continued filming.

The 42-year-old mortgage broker had earlier pleaded guilty in the Victoria state County Court to a rarely-prosecuted charge of outraging public decency over his commentary in crash scene videos shot with his phone.

The most serious charge he admitted was reckless conduct endangering persons, which carries a potential maximum of five years in prison.

Judge Trevor Wraight sentenced Pusey to 10 months in prison, backdated to when he was taken into custody 296 days ago. The judge had said last month that Pusey was probably the most hated man in Australia.

Richard Pusey walks on the street after being granted bail in Melbourne
AP

Police had pulled Pusey over for driving his Porsche at 149 kilometers (93 miles) per hour on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway in April last year.

Police were considering impounding the sports car because Pusey had far exceeded the 100 kph (62 mph) speed limit when a truck crashed into the officers, Porche and two police cars in an emergency stopping lane.

Judge Wraight described Pusey’s conduct as “callous and reprehensible.”

“Your conduct ... was heartless, cruel and disgraceful,” the judge said.

He told Pusey that ongoing media coverage of the case showed that the “public has demonised you.”

The judge said while Pusey’s personality disorder might go some way to explain his behaviour, it was a serious case of conduct that outraged public decency.

Stuart Schulze, whose wife Lynette Taylor was one of the officers killed, described the sentence as “too lenient” and “totally inappropriate.”

Wayne Gatt, secretary of the Victoria Police Association, the police union, described Pusey as a “worthless individual.”

“Each and every one of us will face our mortality one day. When his day comes, I hope that he faces the same coldness and the same callousness with which he provided my members when they faced theirs,” Mr Gatt told reporters.

Pusey had also pleaded guilty to speeding offences and possessing the illicit drug ecstasy, which he tested positive to using along with cannabis in roadside saliva testing after he was pulled over. He was fined 1,000 Australian dollars ($773) and was disqualified from driving for two years.

While his sentence is almost completed, he is likely to remain in custody for unrelated charges.

Two weeks ago, Mohinder Singh, the truck driver who killed the four officers, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

He had been drug-affected and sleep-deprived when he struck the officers and pleaded guilty to four counts of culpable driving causing death, three charges of drug trafficking and one of possessing illicit drugs.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in