| Clea Rose Case |
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The ACTION bus interchange in Civic, the area where she was struck by the car, was effectively a pedestrian mall, used only by buses during the day and by taxis collecting club-goers during the night. Clea's death has resulted in an ongoing debate concerning the merits of police car chases and the threat they pose to public safety. All indications show that both the stolen car and the police car were travelling at up to 100km/h when Clea was struck. Many in the Canberra Community argue that the stolen car would not have travelled at this speed through such a public area had it not been being chased. Mounting evidence from other Australian states and overseas on the dangers faced by the community from police car chases has lead many to question their legitimacy. Following her death, the role of security cameras in Civic came into question as the incident occurred in front of cameras but the police did not have any footage. It was suggested the possibility that the security cameras do not work at all or that police did not release the footage because it may have shown them involved in a high speed chase through a city area which would leave them seen as somewhat to blame. The incident caused an uproar in the community also due to the her young age and the young age of the driver, 15. The police at first claimed the chase was not a 'high-speed chase' even though witnesses claimed the cars were travelling up to 100km/h in a 10km/h zone. The driver of the stolen car, identified only as "BP" (because he is a minor), had a record for stealing vehicles, his first arrest at age 12. Only six weeks before the hit-and-run, he had been released from detention and had already appeared before the courts in that time for stealing other cars. "BP" had breached bail two weeks before the hit-and-run, inciting anger in the family that the ACT justice system had allowed the teenager to remain on the streets. On January 31 , 2006 , "BP" was sentenced by the ACT Supreme Court to 3 years' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 18 months, on the charge of culpable driving causing death. Ross Dunn, Clea's father, said his family was satisfied with the sentence. However, Mr Dunn commented that the boy would have received a much tougher sentence if he had hit Clea in NSW, stating that he thought "''ACT is entirely too soft on this sort of thing''". The family has since offered to help rehabilitate the youth. A charity walk to from Canberra to Brisbane in Clea's name will take place in June 2006. This walk will raise money for people who live with Traumatic Brain Injury , as Clea would have done had she lived. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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