![Luke Collins Luke Collins](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/zTpV5j6X6iLmSh5SbcmSaP/39bb784c-b1ac-43e3-99b8-271a585b51c2.jpg/r656_521_1858_1380_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A disqualified learner's suburban speeding hit 130kmh while fleeing police across parts of Albury.
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A NSW Highway Patrol vehicle had just done a U-turn on Wagga Road to pull over another driver who committed a U-turn offence when they saw a Mitsubishi Pajero.
Luke Collins was at the wheel of the four-wheel-drive, a rental vehicle he'd taken for a spin without the knowledge of the woman who'd leased it for the past month.
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Collins confirmed with her, after police knocked on her front door, that he had taken the keys.
Magistrate Sally McLaughlin told Collins how she also worked as the coroner, then highlighted a recent case where a young man - who wasn't in a police pursuit - crashed while speeding.
"He's your age. He's dead," she said.
"The choice you made on July 5 could have killed you, but more importantly could have killed someone else in the community going about their business."
Albury Local Court was told how police watched, just after 9pm, as the Pajero suddenly changed lanes then "immediately accelerated harshly to a speed estimated at 90-100kmh in a signposted 60kmh speed zone".
A pursuit began, so Collins, 22, put his foot to the floor.
"The Mitsubishi Pajero continued south through the five-ways intersection and onto Mate Street at an estimated speed of 130kmh in the signposted 60kmh speed zone," police said.
As Collins approached Logan Road he swerved his vehicle left to right and braked harshly, causing the wheels to lock and the Pajero to slide.
He then turned right and travelled west on Logan Road, "at no less than 130kmh".
As he approached the Waugh Road intersection, which is controlled by traffic lights, Collins "moved to the incorrect side of the roadway and passed a vehicle which was stationary at a red light".
Collins then went through the intersection despite it being a blind corner, as police said he would not have been able to see traffic approaching from the north.
Police decided it was far too dangerous to other road users to continue the pursuit, then watched as Collins' vehicle headed west on Logan Road "at speed".
Soon afterwards, the four-wheel-drive went past the same police car as the officers drove along David Street.
The following day the Highway Patrol office made inquiries that revealed Collins' vehicle had actually been leased by a woman through Hertz Australia about a month before.
When they knocked on her front door, the woman denied having been the driver involved in the pursuit then told the officers it instead must have been "one of the boys" in her residence.
She went inside then returned and told police that Collins confirmed he was the driver.
Collins, of Highview Crescent, pleaded guilty to charges of police pursuit and a second offence of disqualified driving.
His learner licence was marked as disqualified for five years from November 5, 2020.
"You might not be surprised," Ms McLaughlin told defence lawyer Rohan Harrison, "that I'll be ordering a full sentence assessment report."
Collins will be sentenced in six weeks' time.
He also pleaded guilty to an unrelated shoplifting charge where, Ms McLaughlin noted, "you helped yourself to a drink of milk for $4".
For this act of "entitlement" by Collins, with an underage co-offender, he was placed on a three-month conditional release order, without conviction.
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