Richard Pusey has been found guilty of sending images of dying police officers as part of an insurance complaint
A former mortgage broker who filmed four police officers as they lay dying in the aftermath of a truck crash in Melbourne has been found guilty of sending some of those “incredibly graphic” images along with an insurance claim complaint.
Richard Pusey, former owner of Switch Now Home Loans, uploaded four graphic images of the crash in a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, according to a report by The Australian.
The accident occurred in April 2020. Pusey had been pulled over on the Eastern Freeway for speeding in his Porsche. During the stop, a truck entered the emergency lane and fatally struck all four police officers. Pusey, who was unharmed, pulled out his phone and began filming the dying officers.
Pusey was found guilty in Sunshine Magistrates Court on Monday of one count of using a carriage service in an offensive manner and one count of breaching bail by reoffending, The Australian reported.
The former broker, who uses they/them pronouns, sent the images to the authority after the insurance claim on their Porsche was denied by their insurance broker. Some of the images showed the dying police officers. Pusey had sought a compensation claim of $2.2 million. Pusey complained to the authority that the “c–ts won’t pay out” the claim.
One of the images attached to the complaint showed an officer lying in a pool of blood, The Australian reported. Another showed an officer dead on the roof of Pusey’s car.
On Monday, magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz ruled that she found beyond a reasonable doubt that Pusey had used a carriage service to send the graphic photos and knew that anyone seeing the images would be disturbed by their contents.
The court was told that the staff member who received the complaint was “repulsed and physically ill” upon seeing the images, The Australian reported.
Mykytowycz said that while it could not be proven whether the photos were taken by Pusey or came from the internet, it had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Pusey had sent them using a carriage service.
“I do not hesitate beyond reasonable doubt that a reasonable person would find the images as to likely cause significant anger … and disgust,” she said. “Once seen, these images cannot be unseen. The use of them to accompany [the complaint] … are nothing more than gratuitous in my view, and denies the dignity each police officer deserves while executing their duty as police officers.”
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Mykytowycz found Pusey not guilty of writing a Google review of a Porsche dealership and in doing so breaching their bail conditions. The review allegedly used a graphic image of the crash in a profile picture and was claimed to have been written by Pusey.
However, Mykytowycz said that it could not be established beyond a reasonable doubt that Pusey has written the review, The Australian reported.
Prosecutor Anthony Albore said the images Pusey sent to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority were “incredibly graphic”.
“The way the defendant used the carriage service to show the images … is simply morally repugnant to do so,” he told the court. “The known circumstances around the images are shocking.”
Albore requested that Pusey receive a recognisance release order as part of their sentence, The Australian reported.
“There ought to be an order hanging over the offender upon release having regard to the nature of the conduct and the personal circumstances of the offender which Your Honour is aware with,” Albore said.
The matter has been adjourned until Dec. 5.
