NSW Police Inspector guilty of drunk NorthConnex crash

Court officers immediately scrambled to locate and delete any potential breaches on internal lists and systems.

The Herald had fought the order, made at the request of NSW Police, to have AB’s name suppressed until 2063.

Solicitors for the masthead said the public deserved transparency in how AB was prosecuted, and warned the order could cause problems in the court.

Prosecutors told the court the potential breach was “quite extraordinary” given the Downing Centre Registry had for months ignored calls to even list AB by his pseudonym on the public court list.

Magistrates, prosecutors and even the NSW Attorney-General’s Department have intervened to force the courts to release times and locations of AB’s hearing to the press and public.

Loading

A report from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission concluded AB had “deliberately left the scene” of the NorthConnex crash “to avoid being breath tested”.

Further, the watchdog found he was “deliberately dishonest”, omitting any mention of alcohol in an insurance claim made through the force for the damaged car.

It was “serious misconduct”, the LECC said in July.

The LECC found the officers who investigated and charged the inspector acted properly, but said his boss, known only as HAR12, showed a “partiality for and loyalty to Officer AB [that] blinded them” from making decisions on AB’s risk management.

“The Commission found that Officer AB was treated more leniently in the way in which he was managed by his commander and in the police review of his driving,” the LECC said.

AB will be sentenced next February.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.