Car chase fugitive: police are not to blame I just lost it: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Annabelle McDonald, Natasha Robinson, Additional reporting: Andrew West, John Stapleton. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 10 Mar 2005: 1.
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Abstract
Talking to Kelly about 3.15am on Saturday, February 26 — three hours after he fled the crashed car — police recorded Ms Kelly saying: “It’s not your fault, you know that. The coppers, it’s the coppers. It’s not your fault, [Jesse Kelly], please. The coppers did this to you so it’s not your fault. You remember that they rammed you, didn’t they?”
Campbelltown police prosecutor Sergeant Troy White told the court police believe the catalyst of the rioting was a belief among theMacquarie Fields community that the police were at fault. Police attribute the conversation held between Debbie Kelly and Jesse Kelly as the starting point of this widely-held view.
Premier Bob Carr issued a public apology yesterday to Jason Greeks, the Macquarie Fields man whose children’s call to 000 went unheeded as he was savagely beaten by a gang of 10 men, including Jesse Kelly. “(I apologise) unreservedly,” Mr Carr said.
Full Text
THE fugitive at the centre of a fatal car chase that sparked ugly riots in Sydney’s southwest was captured on tape admitting he “lost it” and was to blame for the accident that killed two mates — not the police pursuers.
But in a secretly recorded conversation, released to a Sydney court yesterday, Jesse Kelly’s aunt Deborah Kelly insisted the 20- year-old should blame the police.
Talking to Kelly about 3.15am on Saturday, February 26 — three hours after he fled the crashed car — police recorded Ms Kelly saying: “It’s not your fault, you know that. The coppers, it’s the coppers. It’s not your fault, Jesse, please. The coppers did this to you so it’s not your fault. You remember that they rammed you, didn’t they?”
When Kelly replied: “Nah, I just lost it,” she continued to attempt to draw her nephew into a deception with the words: “I mean, I’ve done 260 on that corner Jess, there’s no way you can lose it.”
Ms Kelly, 39, faced Campbelltown Local Court yesterday charged with perverting the course of justice and concealing the indictable offence of her nephew. Magistrate Michael Stoddart refused bail.
The crash sparked four days of rioting in Macquarie Fields. Police are still yet to arrest Mr Kelly, 12 days after violence first erupted in the socially troubled housing estate in southwest Sydney.
Campbelltown police prosecutor Sergeant Troy White told the court police believe the catalyst of the rioting was a belief among theMacquarie Fields community that the police were at fault. Police attribute the conversation held between Debbie Kelly and Jesse Kelly as the starting point of this widely-held view.
The court case came as Matt Robertson, 19, who died in the crash, was buried yesterday. Present were the families of all three boys travelling in the stolen car. They have been united in their condemnation of the police, blaming them for the deaths of the two boys in the high-speed chase.
In the aftermath of the funeral, police made a number of arrests, including Aaron Robertson, the brother of Matt, and used mounted officers and riot police to patrol the streets into the night.
The drama in Macquarie Fields — and the police’s failure thus far to arrest Kelly — has caused ructions in the NSW parliament.
Premier Bob Carr issued a public apology yesterday to Jason Greeks, the Macquarie Fields man whose children’s call to 000 went unheeded as he was savagely beaten by a gang of 10 men, including Jesse Kelly. “(I apologise) unreservedly,” Mr Carr said.
“We take very seriously the process of finding out why this happened.”
“It’s not your fault, you know that.
The coppers, it’s the coppers.”
Deborah Kelly, in phone conversation with her nephew Jesse
“Nah, I just lost it.”