A QUEENSLAND man who didn’t have a licence when he led police on a pursuit between Uralla and Armidale has been jailed for more than two years.
Jarrod Matthew Halls has been behind bars since he was pulled by police from the wreckage of the Barina that crashed on September 12 on the outskirts of Armidale.
And now that’s where he will stay after being sentenced for five charges in Armidale Local Court on Monday.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of police pursuit Skye’s Law, dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, driving while unlicensed, resisting arrest and custody of a knife.
Relieving magistrate Roger Prowse found there was no other penalty available other than imprisonment, jailing Halls for 28 months.
Halls was sentenced to 23 months imprisonment for the pursuit alone but Mr Prowse imposed an aggregate sentence – or cumulative sentence – for the other charges, meaning Halls will serve 20 months behind bars before he’s eligible for parole in May 2020.
The chase unfolded last week near Uralla after Halls took off from police in Hill Street about 5pm.
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The same blue Holden Barina had earlier been involved in a fail-to-pay for fuel drive-off in Jennings, near the Queensland border.
Police initiated a pursuit that went through a number of residential streets in the Uralla township but quickly terminated it because of the dangerous manner that saw the Holden cross to the wrong side of the road, into the path of oncoming traffic.
Officers then found the Barina down a dead-end road on Racecourse Road in Uralla before it passed officers, and continued at speed on the New England Highway towards Armidale.
Police made attempts to shut down the highway near the Armidale Airport in an effort to stop the Barina before it turned off, down Platform Road.
As more than a dozen police searched for the Barina, it eventually collided with a fence and crashed into a table drain on Post Way.
Halls and a 25-year-old woman were pulled from the car and arrested.
The woman, also from Queensland, was released and issued a future court attendance notice for fraud for the fail-to-pay at Jennings.
Breanna Chillingworth
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
