A police officer convicted of killing an Indigenous teenager in a historic first is seeking to overturn the ruling over an alleged miscarriage of justice.
Benedict Bryant, 48, was convicted of dangerous driving occasioning death after being found criminally responsible for the death of Bunghutti teenager Jai Wright.
The NSW Police sergeant had parked his unmarked car in the path of a stolen trail bike ridden at high speed by Jai through Sydney's inner west in February 2022.
The 16-year-old suffered critical head injuries when he collided with the car, dying in hospital the following day.
Bryant was sentenced to a two-year jail term to be served in the community in June, but has lodged an appeal against his conviction, claiming it was a miscarriage of justice or an unreasonable verdict.
He alleges the sentencing judge erred applying legal principles with respect to the honest and reasonable mistake of fact as well as in finding his belief was not reasonable.
Judge Jane Culver ruled Bryant, a police officer for more than two decades, ought to have known parking in an intersection without lights and sirens activated posed a serious risk to the teenager.
He should have anticipated someone disobeying road rules and showing no signs of slowing would not stop at the end of a bike lane, she said.
Bryant stated in his police interview he believed Jai was travelling between 40 and 50km/h when he decided to move his car to the end of the bike path, but the teenager was actually travelling at 68km/h.
Judge Culver found the police officer should have known any estimate of speed was inherently unreliable.
She ruled there was no evidence to suggest Bryant meant to hurt the teen and found it possible he held the honest, but mistaken, belief Jai could not travel past the end of the bike lane.
The police officer is seeking to overturn her decision in his appeal, which was first mentioned in court on Thursday.
It was set down for a three-hour hearing in April which could feature relevant video.
Bryant would attend in person and it was likely a “very large contingent of people” could attend to show their support for Jai, the court was told.
Dozens of family members and friends attended Bryant’s trial and filled the public gallery of the courtroom when he was sentenced.
Speaking outside court afterwards, Jai’s grieving father Lachlan Wright said the family were relieved.
“This shows that something went terribly wrong and people have to be held accountable,” he said.
Bryant’s conviction was hailed as the first time a police officer had been held criminally responsible for the death of an Aboriginal person during a police operation in NSW.
He remains a NSW Police sergeant but his employment status is under review.
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