Teen could lose Jaguar after being caught at 215km/h, then recklessly driving without number plates
7News reports 19-year-old Jade Muscat was pulled over by police on three separate occasions on Saturday, April 12 in her black Jaguar F-Pace as she attempted to travel from Sydney to Melbourne, breaking multiple road rules in the process.
She's now due to appear at Gundagai Local Court for sentencing on August 15, and police have reportedly requested her car be forfeited to the crown upon her conviction under section 245 of the Road Transport Act.
Under the Act, a vehicle is eligible for confiscation by the government if its driver commits a serious offence for a second time within five years.
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ABOVE: Image courtesy of 7News
The drama began when the teen, from Paddington in Sydney's eastern suburbs, was issued with a speeding ticket after she was clocked travelling at more than 20km/h over the 110km/h limit on the Hume Highway at Gunning, in the NSW Southern Tablelands, at around 10:40am on April 12.
After continuing south on the Hume, Ms Muscat was again pulled over by highway patrol officers just over an hour later, after she was detected driving at 215km/h about 11:45am at Tumblong just south of Gundagai.
Police issued her with a court attendance notice for two offences – driving at a dangerous speed and exceeding speeds more than 45km/h as a green P-plater.
They suspended her licence, confiscated her number plates and issued her with a confiscation notice, which was affixed to her windscreen.
ABOVE: Jaguar F-Pace
But less than two hours later at about 1:30pm, police received a complaint about a black SUV without number plates weaving in and out of traffic and driving at excess speed while travelling south on the Hume near Little Billabong.
Police apprehended Ms Muscat after taking up a stationary position on the Hume Highway at Table Top, before taking her to Albury police station.
She was charged with a further five charges – drive recklessly/furiously or speed/manner dangerous, Class A motor vehicle exceed speed more than 45 km/h, drive motor vehicle while licence suspended, operate vehicle during number-plate confiscation period, and tamper with number-plate confiscation notice.
Police later dropped one of the seven charges, which was issued during the second speeding incident – P2 exceed speed more than 45km/h – and Ms Muscat pleaded guilty to the six remaining charges during court hearings in Gundagai and Albury last month.
ABOVE: Jade Muscat via social media
Court documents obtained by 7News show Ms Muscat told police in Albury that she continued to drive because 'she needed to get to Melbourne to see family' and 'had no other means of getting there as police in Gundagai told her there were no trains from there'.
'Police formed the opinion that the accused had no regard for other people on the road and showed no remorse relating to her driving behaviour,' according to the documents, which stated the sequence of events occurred during fine, sunny weather on sealed, dry roads while traffic was 'medium to heavy due to school holidays and families travelling'.
'Gundagai is a township with a 24-hour service centre, and a bus service that is available for travel if booked.'
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He noted there was no extradition treaty between Australia and China, and the allegations of interference on behalf of the Chinese government made it more likely it would refuse any extradition request. A police officer involved in the case said investigators shared concerns about evidence on the woman's phone being remotely destroyed if she were released. Defence barrister James Maher said his client had significant financial and property ties to the ACT and was willing to put up a $50,000 surety. The court also heard the woman was a trusted member of Canberra's Chinese community. Mr Maher said his client was being closely watched and listened to by police and was "now well and truly aware she's squarely on their radar". The barrister successfully asked for a non-publication order on the accused woman's identity over concerns she might become the target of "action or reprisal" over the allegations. 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Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Mike Burgess said: "Foreign interference of the kind alleged is an appalling assault on Australian values, freedoms and sovereignty." "In this year's annual threat assessment, I called out these types of activities and put perpetrators on notice by stating, 'we are watching, and we have zero tolerance'. "Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to monitor, intimidate and potentially repatriate members of our diaspora communities should never underestimate our capabilities and resolve." According to the federal police, this is only the third time a foreign interference offence has been laid in Australia since new laws were introduced by the Commonwealth in 2018. It's the first relating to alleged community interference. The woman is set to face court again in September. A Canberra business owner has been accused of covertly gathering information about an ACT association on behalf of the Chinese government. Refusing the woman's bail application on Monday, August 4, Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said the allegation went to the "question of Australia's national security" and the protection of its citizens. Listening to proceedings through a Mandarin interpreter, the accused Chinese national did not enter a plea to a single count of reckless foreign interference after being refused ACT Magistrates Court bail. The now-permanent resident, aged in her 30s, first came to Australia in 2007 and owns a small business in Canberra. She cannot be named after the court agreed to temporarily suppress her name. The particulars of her charge allege that since 2022, she covertly and deceptively collected information on an organisation on behalf of, or in collaboration with, the government of the People's Republic of China. The accused woman is said to have been reckless as to whether her conduct would support the intelligence activities of the Chinese government. According to the Australian Federal Police, she was tasked with gathering information about the Canberra branch of a Buddhist association. "Police allege that the defendant was personally receiving taskings from a foreign principal, being a Chinese Public Security Bureau officer," the court heard. A Commonwealth prosecutor opposed the bid for conditional freedom, citing flight risk and evidence interference concerns. The court heard the woman's husband lived in China, she was intercepted telling an unknown person she planned to leave Australia, and she visited the Chinese consulate after police raided her home. Police also allege the woman of "substantial means" had received deposits from a Chinese-based financial institution. The prosecutor said the primary concern was the woman fleeing to China, which would "effectively end the investigation and prosecution". "There is ample motivation for the defendant to abscond," he said. He noted there was no extradition treaty between Australia and China, and the allegations of interference on behalf of the Chinese government made it more likely it would refuse any extradition request. A police officer involved in the case said investigators shared concerns about evidence on the woman's phone being remotely destroyed if she were released. Defence barrister James Maher said his client had significant financial and property ties to the ACT and was willing to put up a $50,000 surety. The court also heard the woman was a trusted member of Canberra's Chinese community. Mr Maher said his client was being closely watched and listened to by police and was "now well and truly aware she's squarely on their radar". The barrister successfully asked for a non-publication order on the accused woman's identity over concerns she might become the target of "action or reprisal" over the allegations. 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Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Mike Burgess said: "Foreign interference of the kind alleged is an appalling assault on Australian values, freedoms and sovereignty." "In this year's annual threat assessment, I called out these types of activities and put perpetrators on notice by stating, 'we are watching, and we have zero tolerance'. "Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to monitor, intimidate and potentially repatriate members of our diaspora communities should never underestimate our capabilities and resolve." According to the federal police, this is only the third time a foreign interference offence has been laid in Australia since new laws were introduced by the Commonwealth in 2018. It's the first relating to alleged community interference. The woman is set to face court again in September.
ABC News
4 hours ago
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The Australian Federal Police have charged a person with foreign interference, for the third time since new laws were introduced in 2018. The woman, a Chinese national and Australian permanent resident, faced the ACT Magistrates Court today accused of covertly gathering information about the Canberra branch of Buddhist association Guan Yin Citta. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) says it is the first time the laws have been used to lay charges relating to alleged community interference. The AFP alleged the woman had been engaging in covert or deceptive conduct since 2022. The group, which is attached to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, has been outlawed in China, and its Australian leader was barred from entering China in 2017, but is free to practice in Australia. The woman is also accused of having tasked associates to help her collect information on behalf of or in collaboration with China, or to support the intelligence activities of China. Evidence provided by an AFP informant to the court alleged the woman had received money from Chinese-based financial institutions. Police said they believed the woman had been receiving "personal taskings" from a Chinese public security bureau office through an encrypted app, which was allegedly found on the woman's phone during a raid of her premises last week. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment. The court heard the woman's husband, who was believed to be in China, held the role of vice captain in a public security ministry in a Chinese province. The woman, who cannot be named due to a temporary court suppression order, has been charged with the Commonwealth offence of reckless foreign interference. Her lawyer, James Maher, said naming the woman could make her a target for reprisal action and limit her pathways of cooperation with AFP authorities. He also applied for the woman to be bailed, but that application was denied on grounds that the woman was a flight risk and may interfere with digital evidence and witnesses. The Commonwealth, which opposed the application, claimed there was no evidence to support the risks the woman had claimed.
