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| Blurb from Daily Telegraph (I'm not a subscriber!) |
Finally the hearing to solve our bicycle helmet matter has happened and been decided.
After waiting since Saturday 17th March 2018 when approx 40 of us joined the 'Freestyle Cyclists' Helmet Freedom' ride around Centennial Park and two of us received tickets for our pains followed by legal assistance and mentions in court, and notwithstanding two lots of counsel and instructing solicitors and expert witnesses plus us in Waverley Court on Thursday 24th October 2019, it was all over in 15 minutes!?
... and no mention of our freedom to political communication ... sigh.
The Magistrate entered the court room and read out his decision right at the beginning of proceedings whereby he held that the Crown was not able to prove beyond reasonable doubt
that the two of us (the defendants) had breached s 18 of the Centennial
Park and Moore Park Trust Regulation 2014 (NSW).
Therefore the case was dismissed without
the need to address the constitutional questions!
Noooooooooooo - I wanted to address the constitutional questions!
Anyway a win I suppose, in that there were no court costs or convictions, but really, a win like a 'forfeit' - very empty.
So we all packed up our things and went our merry ways, with me chatting to a NewsCorp journalist on the way out of the courtroom (see photo and caption above), and then with me the next day chatting to 'Wendy and Robbie' on ABC Sydney (which you can listen to at the 2:53:56 mark if you like)!
The next bicycle helmet chapter in my life (a completely different 'me-being-non-compliant' bicycle helmet matter) is to be heard in Scone Local Court, next March 2020 ... I'll keep you posted!
Hi Sue, did you still have to pay your (presumably hefty) legal costs?
ReplyDeleteNo we didn't this time!
DeleteWhat a shame you didn't get to run your consitutional argument. Very appropriate for the times we live in.
ReplyDeleteYes it was a shame, John, and I totally agree with you.
DeleteStill, it is an important breakthroug against silly laws!
ReplyDeleteMost of the cyclists and a fair number of the pedestrians killed or seriously injured of late were hit by heavy trucks. Plastic hat no match for that or much of anything else.
Yes I suppose we have to appreciate the mini-wins if that's what it was!!!! And you're completely right that a plastic hat is no match for a heavy truck or much of anything else! Hope all is well - I've been following your election!
DeleteWell, it could have been worse (Conservatives; their guy is a bible-thumper among other things), but Trudeau is pretty words and little action, whether on the environment or Indigenous peoples.
DeleteWith your heatwaves, cyclists should be wearing a shady hat, not a silly plastic one.
Congratulations Sue, for your victory in court against the oppressive, anti-bicycle helmet law regime. I always knew that you are a valuable asset to Freestyle Cyclists; your victory in court may signal the beginning of the end of bicycle helmet law in Oz.
ReplyDelete