Thomas Matthews pleads guilty to running down three police officers in a car in Canberra
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Moment of terror: Man ‘deliberately’ runs over three police officers in a routine traffic stop, leaving them with devastating injuries
- Thomas Matthews beat up three police officers in July 2021
- Canberra officers were warning another driver.
- He pleaded guilty to two counts and is set to be sentenced.
A man admitted to deliberately running over three police officers who were conducting an unrelated traffic stop on the side of the road.
Thomas Matthews, punched Senior Police Constable Alun Mills and Constables Melanie Miller and Alyce Mueck, outside the National Arboretum in West Canberra, at 2:51pm on 11 July 2021.
Disturbing dash cam footage shows the officers having a conversation before Matthews swerves towards them at around 12 mph.
He has pleaded guilty to two counts of negligently causing serious bodily injury and is now awaiting sentencing.
Two of the officers suffered serious injuries as a result of the bizarre incident.
Thomas Matthews pleaded guilty to two counts after hitting three officers with his car (pictured) outside the National Arboretum, in west Canberra, at 2:51pm on July 11, 2021.
Officer Alyce Mueck received three fractures in her right leg and had to undergo surgery to insert a tibial nail, which is used to close fractures in the tibia.
Lead Detective Alun Mills has experienced ongoing back and muscle pain after sustaining an acute compression fracture to his T12 spinal bone.
Officer Melanie Miller suffered a large bruise on her left thigh.
At the time of the incident, Matthews was on an injection of paliperidone, a medication used to treat schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
He had also taken lorazepam, an insomnia medication, and temazepam, an insomnia and anxiety medication.
There was no alcohol in his system when police ran a blood test after the accident.
During mental health evaluations after the accident, Matthews told a forensic psychologist that he had no feelings of self-harm.
He later told a nurse that his mental health was “fine”, but reported that he felt sedated from the medication he was taking and did not remember much about the incident.
Dashcam footage shows Matthews turning sharply left towards the officers before catching up with them at speeds of up to 12 mph.
His lawyer, Jack Pappas, told the court that Matthews’ mental health had stabilized since the incident.
Pappas stated that Matthews had “fallen” into a serious mental state prior to the incident despite his family trying to intervene.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutor Anthony Williamson warned Judge Lucy McCallum against a non-prison sentence for violent crimes against police.
Matthews will be sentenced on March 17.