The report says Pusey is too unpopular to be suitable for a community correction order – but the judge says the agency simply doesn't want to deal with him
The judge in the case of former mortgage broker Richard Pusey said he was “astounded” by a Corrections Victoria report saying that Pusey was too high-profile and unpopular to be suitable for a community correction order.
Pusey was assessed for a community correction order ahead of his sentencing on charges including outraging public decency, according to an ABC News report. Pusey, former owner of Switch Now Home Loans in Melbourne, has been the subject of broad condemnation for filming four officers as they lay dying after being hit by a truck during a traffic stop.
County Court Judge Trevor Wraight – who last month called Pusey “probably the most hated man in Australia” thanks to the media coverage of his actions – said he was “just astounded by the attitude of Corrections” and said the report finding Pusey unsuitable for a community order was “quite disturbing.”
“It’s really an attitude that because of the media attention that he’s received that somehow he’s going to be a problem for them,” Wraight said. He said the report seemed to be “motivated by not wanting to deal with this man because he’s unpopular.”
Wraight said that Corrections Victoria’s attitude seemed to be that Pusey was beyond rehabilitation. He noted, however, that it was still within his power to place the former broker on a community order regardless of Corrections Victoria’s report, according to ABC News.
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“You would hope that they are not treating him any differently to any other offender, but it seems they are,” Wraight said.
Corrections Victoria’s Jennifer Grass told the court that Pusey was considered unsuitable for a community order “for a number of reasons.”
Pusey, who has a severe personality disorder, pleaded guilty to the rare charge of outraging public decency. He also pleaded guilty to speeding and reckless conduct endangering serious injury by speeding, as well as admitting to possessing MDMA when the police pulled him over, ABC News reported.
Pusey’s barrister, Dermot Dann QC, said the intensity of the media’s coverage of Pusey amounted to a severe punishment in its own right. He asked that Pusey, who has already been in custody for nearly 300 days, be placed on an adjourned undertaking.
Pusey is expected to be sentenced today.
Ryan Smith is currently an executive editor at Key Media, where he started as a journalist in 2013. He has since he worked his way up to managing editor and is now an executive editor. He edits content for several B2B publications across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. He also writes feature content for trade publications for the insurance and mortgage industries.LinkedIn | Email
