According to documents tendered to the court, Luke Cousley, 25, was pulled over by police after spotted driving in a dangerous manner around Tolland by various witnesses on March 15., 2017.

Cousley waited until the officer was just one metre away from his vehicle before speeding off. 

Just minutes later, Cousley’s Toyota Hilux smashed into the passenger side in a t-bone impact with a white Commodore at the Bruce and Raye streets intersection.  

Among the injured was a two-year-old boy, who was airlifted to the Sydney Children’s Hospital in a critical condition, suffering from a ruptured spleen and internal injuries. 

The facts state an expert witness estimated the Hilux was travelling somewhere between 71 and 83km/h prior to the skidding, which slowed the ute to between 50km/h and 59km/h on impact. 

The Ashmont man had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, failing to stop and assist with a crash, not complying with a direction to stop a vehicle and driving while disqualified.  

A blood sample taken from Cousley revealed he had amphetamine, methamphetamine and delta-9 in his system at the time of the crash. 

An eight-month-old girl and the two female passengers, including a pregnant mother, were also taken to hospital with varying injuries. 

Cousley told police to “f*** off, I was the passenger”, when he was found hiding in nearby garden shed after fleeing the crash. 

In Wagga District Court in March this year, Cousley admitted to drinking two cans of Jim Beam and taking “heaps of ice” on the day of the crash. 

Felicity Nasir, who was the pregnant passenger in the front seat, told The Daily Advertiser that no sentence would be enough. 

“No matter how much time he got it will never be enough for what he put my family through and what I still deal with every day with Isa (her two year old son),” she said. 

Judge Gordon Lerve said Cousley had put a number of people at risk and sentenced him to a total sentence of three years and three months, with two years and two months to be served behind bars. 

He was also disqualified from driving for three years. 

Judge Gordon Lerve said he wasn’t prepared to find that Cousley was unlikely to re-offend, given he committed the offence while on parole. 

“He was attempting to get away from police and put a number of people at risk,” he said. 

“This took place through a number of residential streets.”