Loved ones of a 16-year-old boy who died when his trail bike hit an unmarked police car in an inner-city suburb of Sydney have wept as footage of the incident was shown in court.
Benedict Bryant fronted a full courthouse to fight allegations he caused the death of Indigenous teenager Jai Kalani Wright in Eveleigh on February 19, 2022.
Sixteen-year-old Jai Kalani Wright died following a collision with an unmarked police car.
The 47-year-old, who has more than 20 years’ experience as a police officer, pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death and a related charge of negligent driving occasioning death.
As his judge-alone trial in the NSW District Court began on Monday, dozens of Wright’s supporters turned up to the Darlinghurst court and performed an Indigenous smoking ceremony before filing into the public gallery and leaving no chairs empty.
During the opening address by Crown prosecutor Philip Strickland, SC, the court was shown CCTV footage from various angles capturing Wright’s bike hitting the front passenger side of Bryant’s police car, throwing him over the roof and 15 metres from the point of impact, according to Strickland.
Moments prior, Judge Jane Culver warned the public gallery that the disturbing video would be shown, and about a dozen people left the courtroom.
Police officer Benedict Bryant is on trial over the death of the Indigenous teenager.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
When the moment of impact was depicted on screen, an audible gasp rang through the room as several supporters teared up, covered their mouths and comforted each other.
Strickland told the judge she would hear evidence that Wright and two friends, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were riding in a convoy of two stolen cars and a motorbike through Newtown before 7.30am.
Two officers, who were having a coffee at a cafe, saw one of the cars stop near them. One filmed the black Mercedes on his mobile phone before they ran to their police cars, activated their sirens and followed the vehicle.
The court was told it would hear evidence that the officers decided not to stop the stolen cars because they were in unmarked police vehicles and feared it would lead to a pursuit. Instead, they followed from a distance and chose to only stop the vehicles if the drivers exited.
Wright’s supporters conducted a smoking ceremony outside Darlinghurst Court ahead of the trial.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
A few minutes later, the court heard, one of the teenagers had left the car and was stopped by police, as Wright turned away towards a park.
A police radio operator instructed “nobody to pursue the bike” and called for assistance, to which Bryant responded that he “will head there”. He was given the crossroad of Henderson Road and Davy Road and responded, “Yeah, copy that, 30 seconds”.
Two police cars – separate from Bryant’s – approached that intersection, with one activating their lights when they saw the bike travelling east on Henderson Road.
Wright continued through a red light before hitting a barrier, causing him to “become airborne”. Bryant, who was travelling in the opposite direction and turning from Henderson Road onto Davy Road, then collided with the bike.
Strickland told the court that Bryant said in a police interview that it “was not [his] intention to initiate a pursuit”, his view was “partially blocked” by another police vehicle as he approached the intersection, and the speed of the bike surprised him. The court heard Wright was travelling more than 60km/h in a 40km/h zone.
The teenager’s family speak following the fatal crash in February 2022.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Strickland noted Bryant had told police he thought Wright had stolen vehicles and he “ought to have known such persons can drive dangerously” and that he could not safely rely on the estimate of the bike’s speed or the “good sense of the trail bike driver to divert his course”.
“The Crown’s case is that by placing his vehicle in direct path of Jai’s vehicle, that was dangerous driving, and if such a collision occurred, given a young person was driving a trail bike at speed, that collision was potentially catastrophic,” he said.
In his brief opening address, Bryant’s solicitor Brent Haverfield told Culver it was his client’s case that he was unable to see Wright’s bike clearly and had to manoeuvre around it because of the roadblock made by other police cars.
A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed to this masthead that Bryant is still employed and “is currently being managed in the workplace”.
The trial continues.
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