Two former Northern Territory police officers have narrowly avoided jail but will face home detention for a year, after one of them drunkenly crashed a police car and both lied about it to superiors.
Wade Hawkins, 45, and Christopher Beaumont, 49, enlisted a civilian to undertake a breath test in place of Beaumont, who had crashed a marked police car after a night of heavy drinking in the remote resort town of Yulara, near Uluru, last year.
They each pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice, with Beaumont admitting to an additional charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.
The court heard around 6am on November 27, 2021, Beaumont was "so drunk" he couldn't control the vehicle and had been driving on the wrong side of the road, when he crashed into a rock monument and caused more than $10,000 worth of damage.
The two men had been partying the night before the crash, drinking heavily at community pubs and later, the police social club.
At various points during the night, Beaumont was seen eating a piece of blackboard chalk, skolling cider, licking wine off a table and vomiting.
According to the agreed facts of the case, Beaumont was "distressed" after the crash, and drove back to his home in the Aboriginal community of Mutitjulu, inside the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, before calling Hawkins for "help".
By the time Hawkins arrived, Beaumont had enlisted a civilian neighbour to undertake a breath test in his place, after he had called superiors in Alice Springs and been advised he would have to be tested.
The civilian neighbour overheard the officers discussing "what was going to be in the report about how the accident had occurred".
Hawkins and Beaumont later signed statutory declarations stating Beaumont had returned a 0.00 breath test reading, however came clean when other officers began investigating the crash days later.
"I can't lie anymore, I've 'fessed up to [a superior]," Beaumont told Hawkins on the phone."
The pair were charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Officers narrowly avoid jail time
NT Supreme Court Justice Stephen Southwood said the former officers' crimes were particularly serious given their duty and oath as police to uphold the law.
"Fabricating evidence … concealing evidence … procuring an innocent community member to become a party to a criminal conspiracy … providing false information to superior officers in an attempt to deflect … there was a degree of planning," Justice Southwood said.
Both Hawkins and Beaumont were long-serving officers, stationed in the remote communities of Mutitjulu and Yulara.
The judge noted their previous good character and took into account the fact they ultimately admitted to their lies and pleaded guilty to all charges.
"As a result of their change and admissions, the matter has not proceeded to a situation where what occurred was covered up," he said.
Both men were sentenced to two years and three months in jail, however their prison terms were immediately suspended as they both entered home detention for 12 months.
Beaumont was handed an additional month in jail for his drink driving charge.
"I don't expect ever to see the pair of you back again," Justice Southwood told the men.
