Officers robbed of dignity in images

THE Porsche driver who filmed the aftermath of a truck crash that killed four police officers on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway has been jailed for sharing images of the scene that denied the officers “any dignity in death”.

Richard Pusey uploaded pictures of the April 2020 crash in a Google review of a Porsche dealership and in a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority in November 2021.

The former mortgage broker, 44, was convicted of two charges of using a carriage service in an offensive manner last month.

Pusey was sentenced at Sunshine Magistrates Court on Monday to 10 months and one month in prison on each charge.

The sentences will be served concurrently.

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz said the images were graphic and denied police officers Lynette Taylor, Glen Humphris, Kevin King and Josh Prestney dignity in death.

“It is hard to conceive of a more serious example (of using a carriage service in an offensive manner),” Ms Mykytowycz said.

“Once seen, these images cannot be unseen.”

The court heard Pusey had attached images of the officers, who were killed after a truck careened into them when they had stopped him for speeding, to a complaint with the financial watchdog.

In the complaint, he wrote “nobody wants to own the claim” and that he was seeking $2.2m in compensation for his car and trauma he suffered having witnessed the crash.

Ms Mykytowycz said his actions would horrify an average member of the community.

“The use of (the images) to accompany a motor vehicle insurance complaint was nothing more than gratuitous in my view, and denies the dignity each police officer deserves, having died while exercising their duty,” she said.

Pusey has been behind bars since February 7 after his bail was revoked when the latest charges came to light.