Kobe Kevin Colin Ashwin: 24-year-old jailed after recklessly speeding off during police stop

A 24-year-old could spend the next eight months in jail after speeding at more than 140km/h in a residential zone and running a stop sign to escape police, in behaviour a magistrate labelled “outrageous”. Kobe Kevin Colin Ashwin, 24, appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court via video link from Greenough Regional Prison where he pleaded guilty to reckless driving to escape pursuit, failing to stop, no authority to drive, assault, obstructing police, breaching a police order and two counts of breaching protective bail conditions. The court was told that on Wednesday, November 8, Ashwin was driving along Lawley Street in Spalding when police attempted to stop him. Ashwin accelerated away from police, driving at more than 140km/h in a 50km/h zone, driving on the wrong side of the road and running a red light, which the court was told resulted in other road users heavily braking to avoid collisions. In December, Ashwin attended a house in Karloo to visit a woman who had a protective order against him. While children were inside the same room, Ashwin tried to pull the victim outside by her arms, leaving red marks around her arms. Police were responding to another matter when they tried to arrest Ashwin and he resisted by flailing his arms around. Defence lawyer Sabrina Maine said Ashwin had been in custody since Thursday, January 11 and he was a young man who came from a difficult background. She said he had been couch surfing up until he received assistance to live in Perth and social circumstances, such as unemployment and drug use, contributed to his offending. Magistrate Matthew Walton said the assault and breach of protective bail conditions were in the context of domestic violence and it was “unacceptable” and “brutish behaviour”. “The breaches reflect an ongoing disregard of orders imposed by the court,” he said. Mr Walton said driving more than 140km/h, on the wrong side of the road and through a stop sign was “outrageous” behaviour that threatened the safety of other road users and could have had catastrophic consequences. Ashwin was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, backdated to January 11, and made eligible for parole. He was fined $1300 and was disqualified from driving for two years.