Bunbury man Bradley Freeman, 32, jailed for meth-fuelled red-light crash

Momentary inattention and consuming a dangerous combination of illicit substances has proved a recipe for disaster for a 32-year-old Bunbury man. Bradley Ramon Freeman was jailed for two years and nine months, fined $2000 and had his licence disqualified in Bunbury District Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to causing a crash in Withers that resulted in a woman breaking her leg and shattering her hip. The court was told Freeman was driving a green Holden Commodore east along Washington Avenue at dusk on September 6, 2019 while a 41-year-old woman was riding a Kawasaki motorcycle in the opposite direction and both had come to a stop at the intersection at Parade Road. The motorcyclist was indicating to turn right while Freeman intended to continue straight ahead. When the traffic lights changed to show a green arrow, the motorcyclist began making her turn but Freeman contravened the red light and collided with the motorcyclist, knocking her off her motorcycle. As multiple witnesses proceeded to give assistance to the victim, Freeman parked his vehicle on a nearby verge and called triple-0 to report the crash, when he was advised an ambulance was already on the way. Although Freeman left the scene to go to a friend’s house 750m away, Freeman made a second call to triple-0, when he was advised to return to the scene. Freeman then walked back to the crash site and approached police, where he was arrested and had a blood sample taken which found five micrograms of cannabis and a blood concentration of 0.76mg per litre of methamphetamine in his system. In an “unhappy coincidence” it was later found the victim also had drugs in her system at the time of the crash, a charge that was later dealt with in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court. In submissions, Freeman’s defence lawyer Paul Chapman told the court Freeman mistook the green arrow for a standard green light. Mr Chapman also submitted Freeman was ultimately following directions at the advice of emergency services but was initially too overwhelmed to provide immediate assistance to the victim. However, State prosecutor Jackie Stewart submitted Freeman had taken his time in following directions when it was his responsibility to stay at the scene of the crash. Ms Stewart also told the court Freeman had a history of reckless driving and drug charges. In handing down the sentence, District Court Judge Martin Flynn said Freeman’s level of intoxication and the combination of substances involved was “incompatible with driving”. Freeman will be eligible for parole in August 2022 despite having made a further appearance in the magistrate’s court on March 26 for a further alleged incident.