Officer cleared of bike charge
A SENIOR Cairns police officer has been found not guilty of dangerous driving after a magistrate said his driving “left a lot to be desired” but wasn’t dangerous.
Sgt Bruce MacDonald, 49, was charged last year, four years after he and a friend Andrew Olm came under scrutiny during a motorbike ride between Cairns and Port Douglas. The Smithfield-based officer was not on duty at the time. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Police had accused the pair of riding dangerously on December 4, 2012, before Mr Olm was involved in a serious crash near Turtle Cove Resort.
During Sgt MacDonald’s two-day hearing in April, several motorists gave evidence, claiming they saw two motorbikes – one black and one green – speeding and crossing double white lines.
Police alleged Sgt MacDonald was on the black bike. During the hearing the veteran officer said there had been a number of other bikes on the road that day.
In her findings handed down in the Cairns Magistrates Court yesterday, Magistrate Kerry Magee said she was satisfied the pair overtook one of the witnesses, truck driver Peter Jones, but there were disof crepancies with other witness accounts. Mr Jones described the two bikes overtaking his truck and three other vehicles on a double white line about 5km north of Ellis Beach.
Magistrate Magee said police had failed to prove the driving was a public risk.
“Whilst the manner of driving of the defendant certainly left a lot to be desired I am not satisfied that viewed objectively, that conduct amounts to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle,” she said.
Mr Olm’s case is due to be mentioned on August 28 with police asking for an adjournment yesterday “for the QPS to consider its position”.