If you were placed in a situation involving a legenedary Australian rock act, cancelled flights, and the possibility of still being able to get them to an all-important headline show, what would you do?
Sure, you could pick up the musos, load up their gear into your car, and drive them safely to their destination at the risk of them being ridiculously late for their set; or you could make like the proverbial road runner on wheels and leg it to the event for the good of all live music in mind.
Well that’s exactly what Dunsborough Police officer Sergeant Craig Anderson did, when back in November of 2011, he piled Jimmy Barnes and the other members of Cold Chisel into a vehicle and gunned it as their police escort to a Sandalford Estate concert to make their scheduled 8pm slot.
After facing the possibility of missing their set in Margaret River due to delayed flights, Cold Chisel enlisted the help of Sgt Anderson, who clocked in at 34km over the speed limit whilst racing to get the band to the event on time, travelling at 114 kilometeres an hour in an 80km/h zone.
But Yahoo News reports, the officer has now failed in challenging the speeding charge, hit with a $700 fine along with $1,600 in court costs for what Magistrate Bromfield of the Busselton Magistrate’s Court noted as being an unfortunate slip up for the officer.
Magistrate Bromfield further went on to say that he was convinced that Sgt Anderson’s desicion was not a reasonable one consisderng his standing in the force and his extended career as a police officer. With over 24 years experience in the job, Sgt Anderson is also set to lose five demerit points as a result of the incident with the judge ruling that the officer was not in his place to exempt himself from the road conduct rules.
“The last thing I wanted to do was to be cruising past traffic at the speed limit with Jimmy Barnes in the back of the car.” – Sgt. Craig Anderon, Dunsborough PoliceSgt Anderson has defended that his speeding to the event came down to him wanting to not attract atention to his high-status passengers. Stating, “the last thing I wanted to do was to be cruising past traffic at the speed limit with Jimmy Barnes in the back of the car,” claiming that “the whole intention of the escort was for it to be smooth, clean, and not attract attention.”
Additionally, the officer’s defence lawyer Lyn Zinenko said the officer was simply trying to “avert a disaster,” by trying to ensure the band’s prompt arrival at the gig to avoid any anti-social conduct by patrons, which Sgt Anderson believed to have a high possibility of conflict due to the number of school leavers in attendance the court heard, and the tensions being brought on by the then-recent Margaret River bushfires.
The Sandalford Estate concert, featuring Cold Chisel alongside support acts The Ghost Hotel and Junior Bowles, was also touted as a fundraiser for the recent bushfires, according to Perth Now, with Sgt Anderson breaking the speed limit to get Barnes and co. to an expected audience of 12,000 for the charity show.
Lawrence Panaia, a former South West superintendent, told the court that he gave Sgt Anderson permission to escort the band to the event but has denied allowing permission for the officer to break the speed limit to do so.
In response, Sgt Anderson has said that he had the “autonomy” to make the desicion to speed in order to avoid any delays brought on by cars not clearing for the escort. “My order was to conduct an unimpeded escort (so) where the escort became impeded and vehicles would not yield… I made the decision, which I have the power to do, to exceed the speed limit.”
Despite the officer being caught out behaving in a way that one would never usually encourage, his efforts should be applauded in upholding the greater good of rock’n’roll. After all, it does make for a killer pub story to tell at the end of it.
Below is an image taken of Jimmy Barnes and Sgt Anderson in the middle of their speeding joyride (via the Busselton Mail)
