Man drove at Wodonga police in plaza car park to avoid arrest

Darcy Joel Widdison, 27, was well known to officers before the incident at the Wodonga Plaza car park on February 21 last year.

One of the officers who tried to stop his car had intercepted him 17 days earlier and knew he was banned from driving.

But rather than stopping when the policeman got out of his vehicle in the car park, Widdison put his Toyota Echo into reverse and drove towards them at speed.

The police had to move to avoid being rammed.

Widdison reversed at high speed towards Watson Street as one officer screamed "Darcy get out of the car" several times, and almost hit another vehicle.

He fled south but was spoken to at his home a week later.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the 27-year-old said when questioned.

Lawyer Jonathan Rattray said his client had suffered "an infliction of substance abuse" for some time, which he had largely recovered from.

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But Magistrate Andrew McKenna said his history was "close enough to deplorable".

Widdison was banned from driving for four years in March 2017 and has spent several stints in custody, and had been in court for six disqualified driving matters before his most recent appearance in the Wodonga Magistrates Court.

Mr McKenna said there was no evidence "within cooee" of exceptional circumstances being shown in the case.

"He basically got caught and identified red-handed but chose not to comply with the police request, obviously aware that he was driving whilst disqualified and would be in trouble," the magistrate said.

"He probably reacted somewhat crazily, instinctively, to evade what was an inevitable adverse consequence for him.

"He needs to serve a sentence of imprisonment."

He jailed Widdison for two months, but he was released on bail pending appeal in the County Court.

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