A courageous cop says he is "glad it was me", rather than an innocent civilian or fellow police officer, who was mowed down by a stolen car and "left for dead" in a highway hit-and-run.
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Senior Constable Jason Farrell outlined the lasting effects of the ordeal in a victim impact statement read to the Queanbeyan District Court on Thursday, when the Canberra man who hit him faced justice.
Stephen John McCracken, 31, was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, failing to stop and assist after vehicle impact, and knowingly driving a stolen car.
Judge Nicole Noman SC noted it was the offender's birthday as she ordered him to serve at least three years and three months of that term before being considered for parole.
McCracken, wearing prison greens, listened in via audio-visual link from a NSW jail as Crown prosecutor Nerissa Keay read Senior Constable Farrell's statement to the court.
The NSW Police officer, a father of four based in Cooma, outlined how he had celebrated one of his daughters' birthdays during a break in his shift on the night of August 30 last year.
When he returned to duty, he and Senior Constable Kelly Bourke responded to reports of a stolen Toyota LandCruiser that was speeding towards Cooma along with a white sports car.
The pair spotted the Toyota on the Monaro Highway and pursued it at up to 160km/h until it stopped just outside Cooma and the driver, Jaiden Dale Gardner, 27, got out and ran towards the sports car.
Keen to arrest Gardner before he could make it to the other car, a stolen Audi driven by McCracken, the officers jumped out of their police vehicle and chased the 27-year-old on foot.
They did not make it in time and Senior Constable Bourke took refuge behind the police car as the Audi, now with Gardner in the back, accelerated away.
As McCracken took off at high speed, he hit Senior Constable Farrell and carried him on the Audi's bonnet for about 30 metres before the officer was thrown onto the roadway.
The uninjured officer called for urgent assistance and performed first aid on her colleague, who was unconscious and bleeding from the head.
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Senior Constable Farrell expressed his gratitude for this in his statement, saying Senior Constable Bourke had saved his life.
He described how he had woken up in Canberra Hospital more than a week later with a traumatic brain injury, a fractured skull, a laceration to the head and no memory of being hit by the Audi.
His wife was told in the immediate aftermath that he was unlikely to survive, and he had to take eight months off work before returning part-time to perform restricted duties.
Being a cop was the best and worst job in the world, Senior Constable Farrell said, expressing his anger that a driver "could run down anyone, let alone a visible police officer, and leave them for dead on the roadway without offering any assistance or reporting it".
"As much as I have suffered as a result of doing my duty, I'm glad it was me and not an innocent bystander or other officer who was hurt," the victim wrote.
Judge Noman said McCracken had claimed to have no memory of the incident because of methamphetamine use, while he had blamed his failure to stop on being "in shock".
She did not accept the latter to be true, finding McCracken had driven off to flee a police pursuit.
The judge also said McCracken had told a psychologist he had not seen Senior Constable Farrell before driving into him, and she accepted there was no proof the offender had deliberately driven at the victim.
"If not deliberate, it was highly reckless," Judge Noman said.
She added that it was clear McCracken, who has spent most of his adult life behind bars, "well knew what he was doing" when he tried to evade police in a stolen car.
With his sentence backdated to start in January to account for time served on remand, McCracken, represented by lawyers Duncan Berents and Taden Kelliher, will become eligible for parole in April 2025.
Gardner is yet to be dealt with over the incident because he has since been locked up in the ACT.
Judge Noman said another passenger in the Audi, 44-year-old Rebecca Keys, had previously been sentenced.
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