More jail time for Morgan Stephen Douglas after two reckless police pursuits

A man recklessly drove through Kalgoorlie-Boulder streets at more than twice the speed limit to evade police, with a young child and other passengers in the car. Morgan Stephen Douglas tried to evade police pursuit twice in two months, both times reaching excessive speeds, with police ending the chases to ensure public safety. The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to eight charges, including reckless driving to escape pursuit and reckless driving speeding by 45km/h or more to escape pursuit, in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Thursday. On October 30 police pursued Douglas through several streets from 9.50am as he drove recklessly with a five-year-old child and two adults as passengers. Douglas was seen driving 110km/h in a 50km/h zone and failing to stop at stop signs, and was seen later driving at 150km/h in a 70km/h zone. The chase ended when police saw him drive at speed through an intersection, crossing on to the incorrect side of the road and causing other cars to swerve to avoid collision. A few weeks earlier on September 10, Morgan was pulled over by police and told his car would be searched. He told police he would pull over a bit further, but when police told him he was fine where he was, he accelerated heavily, reaching speeds of 120km/h. He continued to drive up to 120km/h on several streets, going through a give way sign and a red light before police abandoned the pursuit. Douglas’ learner’s permit was cancelled in 2018 and he has not held a licence since. Defence lawyer Seamus Rafferty said Douglas did not have a close relationship with his father, and wished to be a good influence for his two young children moving forward. He also called for Magistrate Paul Lyons to consider totality when sentencing Douglas, who was recently handed 2½ years imprisonment in Kalgoorlie District Court for an aggravated burglary offence. Mr Lyons said Douglas had other driving offences of a similar nature on his record, so he would impose more than the mandatory minimum six months imprisonment. “It’s disappointing it has taken a significant stint in custody for you to realise where your life is headed and recognise you need to make changes,” he said. He fined him $2700 for some of the charges, and gave him eight months imprisonment cumulative on his District Court sentence for the reckless driving and failing to stop offences. Douglas’ licence was disqualified for a further eight years.