Richard Pusey: Australian man admits to celebrating and filming as four police officers lay dying on road

Australian police later found that Pusey had shared the video with his friends as well

File image: Richard Pusey, the driver of a Porsche, who allegedly fled the scene of a truck crash on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway in which four police officers were killed (EPA)

Richard Pusey, an Australian national, has admitted to celebrating and filming four police officers who lay dying on the road after being hit by a lorry that had breached its lane on a freeway in Melbourne last year.

In April 2020, the 42-year-old mortgage broker was driving his Porsche car on a Melbourne freeway when four police officer stopped him for speeding. While they were completing the formalities to arrest him, they were struck by a passing lorry.

Pusey, who was standing a little away, avoided the crash. While the police officers lay on the road, grievously injured, Pusey pulled out his phone and filmed them for over three minutes, reported BBC News.

The four police officers — senior constables Lynette Taylor and Kevin King and constables Glen Humphris and Josh Prestney — died at the crash site. According to local media, the incident is the single biggest loss of life in Victoria police’s history.

But before they died, Pusey stood over and taunted senior constable Taylor while she was pinned under the lorry.

According to the video from the body camera worn by the constable, Pusey said: “There you go. Amazing, absolutely amazing … All I wanted was to go home and have some sushi,” while using expletives blaming police officers for ruining his car before fleeing the scene.

Pusey was later arrested from his home and was charged with offences related to speeding, drug possession and reckless conduct offences. But the police later discovered his video and found that he had shared it with his friends as well.

Pusey’s comments in the video had sparked public outrage. The 42-year-old mortgage broker admitted to the rare charge of outraging public decency.

According to local media, the charge of outraging public decency is rarely prosecuted in Australia and there is no maximum penalty for the charge in Australian law. The next date of the court hearing is now 31 March.

Mohinder Singh Bajwa, who was driving the lorry, has also pleaded guilty to the charges of culpable driving causing death. Bajwa is expected to face a court hearing later this week.