North Albury man Phillip John Matier urged cops to 'ask the guys' after lying about highway driving

Phillip John Matier had just belted past a Highway Patrol car heading north towards Culcairn when his P1 driver's licence restricted him to just 90kmh.

Magistrate Sally McLaughlin said the extreme speed at which the 27-year-old was travelling represented a serious example of such offending.

Matier pleaded guilty on Monday, November 13, to a single charge of dangerous driving.

"Fortunately you're not in custody with the knowledge that you've killed other drivers or the passengers in your car," Ms McLaughlin said.

Matier's actions along the Olympic Highway on October 13 about 9.15pm resulted him losing his licence for 20 months, while copping an $1800 fine.

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He was also convicted and got placed on a seven-month community corrections order.

Defence lawyer Glenn Moody said mitigating factors in his client's actions were his speeding was not done in a built-up area, and that he did not try to overtake a car that appeared before him.

"He has a passion for cars," Mr Moody said, "and one day hopes to get an apprenticeship as a mechanic."

Ms McLaughlin said it was difficult to tell from the police outline of the case just how long Matier was travelling at such a speed.

But she said it "goes without saying" that the danger was significant given he was an inexperienced driver who also had two passengers in his car.

"It's an excessive speed and I take that into account."

The court heard Matier had only obtained his driver's licence in August, 2022, and had been fined for speeding on another occasion.

Police said Matier was driving a grey Holden Commodore south on the highway at Culcairn, about a kilometre north of Odewahns Road, when police radar detected his speed in what was a 100kmh zone.

After Matier sped past police they stopped, did a U-turn and began to follow him.

They were able to maintain sight of Matier's car thanks to its tail lights.

Police then saw the car catch up with a vehicle heading in the same direction.

A car approaching from the opposite direction prevented Matier from trying to overtake, then police caught up with him and got him to pull over after turning on their vehicle's lights and sirens.

Matier pulled over and police stopped, got out and walked over, noticing two men, aged 20 and 30, also in the car.

He was told he was detected driving at 224kmh.

"I was only doing 90kmh, you can ask the other guys in the car," Matier replied.

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