Teen driver clocked 168km/h with baby in the car during highway pursuit, police allege

6 days ago 3

A 10-month-old baby was in a car as it allegedly clocked 168km/h on the Pacific Highway on Tuesday, sparking a high-speed police chase in which a pregnant teenage driver is accused of crashing into another vehicle and swerving to avoid road spikes before being arrested after abandoning the vehicle.

Kirsty Lee Parker, 19, was refused bail on Wednesday after allegedly driving the Volkswagen sedan that police attempted to stop on the M1 near Gosford on Tuesday afternoon, prompting a pursuit that was eventually abandoned amid safety concerns after a passenger climbed out of the window to film the chase.

Passengers are heard excitedly yelling and swearing at police in footage livestreamed on social media, with one video showing the baby in a car seat while loud music plays through the speakers. One passenger is sitting on the floor of the back seat.

The learner driver allegedly refused to stop and crashed into a vehicle near the Pacific Highway and dodging road spikes set by police in the Lake Macquarie towns of Swansea and Pelican as it continued its journey north.

Parker and four passengers were arrested after dumping the vehicle in Windale – where the driver’s mother is believed to live – 14 kilometres south-west of Newcastle and some 80 kilometres from where the pursuit began.

She was later charged with driving 45km/h over the speed limit as a learner, driving recklessly and dangerously, not complying with police directions and driving while passengers’ seatbelts weren’t fastened and were hanging out of the car.

The four other adult passengers have since been released without charge, police said.

Other videos, posted to Snapchat, show passengers urging the driver to mount the kerb as police close in on their vehicle, and implore the car be swerved onto the wrong side of the road as they identify the spikes.

Parker applied for bail on Wednesday morning, proposing conditions including daily reporting to Blacktown police station while living at an address in Seven Hills, a driving ban and no communication with the passengers. Legal Aid lawyer Adam Ryan, who acted on behalf of Parker, said a doctor had confirmed his client was 11 weeks’ pregnant.

Magistrate Elizabeth Bushby was unsatisfied that Parker would adhere to any court orders after hearing from the prosecution that allowing bail would endanger community safety.

“Bail is refused,” Bushby said.

Parker put her head in her hands after Bushby rejected the application, crying and urging the magistrate to change her mind as she was led out of the room.

One Windale resident told Nine News one male passenger had jumped her fence to evade police after they abandoned the vehicle, prompting officers to kick her gate in and arrest him in her front yard, where Parker had also been detained, describing the incident as “very shocking”.

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