Shiloh Weston, 22, pleaded guilty in the Koori Court section of the Shepparton County Court to two counts of theft, conduct endangering a person, conduct endangering life and drug possession.
He also pleaded guilty to a summary charge of drug driving.
Prosecutor Andrew McKenry told the court police went to a house in Ogilvie Ave, Echuca, on December 3, 2022, when a member of the public reported that they saw a white Nissan Navara ute with a Kawasaki motorbike on the back that looked like a motorbike they knew was stolen.
A police officer went to the house and parked across the driveway, blocking in the ute that had been stolen from Tatura days earlier.
Weston drove the Navara forward to try and get around the unmarked police Toyota Kluger SUV, and when he was unsuccessful, he reversed the ute and rammed into the passenger door of the Kluger twice in an attempt to push it out of the way.
He then drove through a brick fence at the front of the property to get away.
Police and the member of the public who contacted police followed as Weston drove east down Ogilvie Ave before crossing the median strip and going west.
Weston drove through several other streets before returning to the Northern Hwy and driving around the roundabout on the corner of the Northern Hwy and Ogilvie Ave on the wrong side of the road.
He then drove along Ogilvie Ave on the wrong side of the road for several hundred metres, as seven other vehicles had to take evasive action to move out of his way as he drove at them.
The police pursuit was stopped at this point, and a police Air Wing helicopter that happened to be in the area that day continued to track the ute.
The incident ended when Weston pulled into a Montgomery St driveway and ran off, jumping several fences before he was found hiding behind a shed in a yard.
When he was arrested, a small amount of methamphetamines was found in his wallet and he also tested positive for drug driving.
The court was told the Navara ute had been stolen from Tatura between November 30 and December 1, 2022, while the Kawasaki motorbike was stolen from Echuca between the same dates.
The court also heard Weston was on parole at the time, after having been released from detention only about two weeks earlier after serving three years of a four-year sentence for manslaughter.
Weston’s defence barrister Tomas Acutt told the court Weston had an intellectual disability and his IQ was in the bottom two per cent of the population.
He said Weston had problems responding to stress.
Mr Acutt said the police car was unmarked and his client had been followed through the streets of Echuca by this vehicle and the one driven by the member of the public who had contacted police.
“He was in a heightened state of panic,” Mr Acutt said.
During the sentencing conversation in court with two Elders, Weston told how he had done one week’s work as a concreter after being released from detention, but had then fought with his now-ex-girlfriend and all of his work gear was at her house so he didn’t go back to work.
Judge Michael Cahill will sentence Weston next week.
