P-plate driver, 20, is accused of killing a cyclist while travelling almost double the speed limit on the wrong side of the road
- James Jonathon Guzman charged with culpable driving causing death of cyclist
- Jarryd Currie, 28, died in Burnside Heights in Melbourne, on July 1 this year
- Detective Senior Constable Leigh Miller opposed bail on Tuesday
- Said CCTV footage showed Guzman ‘accelerating at full throttle’ before crash
A Melbourne P-plate driver who allegedly travelled at almost double the speed limit on the wrong side of the road before hitting and killing a cyclist has been granted bail.
James Jonathon Guzman, 20, was granted bail on Thursday after being charged with culpable driving causing the death of 28-year-old Jarryd Currie in Burnside Heights shortly before 12.30am on July 1.
Detective Senior Constable Leigh Miller opposed bail on Tuesday saying there was CCTV footage just seconds before the crash showing Guzman ‘accelerating at full throttle’ on the wrong side of the road while overtaking another car.
Investigators believe he was likely travelling at about 109km/h and would have hit Mr Currie at 107km/h.
A Melbourne P-plate driver who allegedly travelled at almost double the speed limit on the wrong side of the road before hitting and killing a cyclist has been granted bail (stock)
‘The force was so great that his windscreen shattered and the roof of the vehicle collapsed,’ Det Sen Const Miller told Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Guzman later told police there was another car in front of him ‘then all of a sudden he saw a bicycle helmet then stopped’, discovering Mr Currie’s body under the car.
His lawyer Lisa Papadinas told the court Guzman was a devout evangelical Christian from a close-knit family and had no prior criminal history.
In the weeks before the crash he had resigned from his job and applied to enter the police force, she added.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz granted Guzman bail on a $10,000 surety, with conditions including that he must report to police twice a week, live with his parents, be home by 10pm each day and not drive a car.
He cannot leave Victoria and must surrender his passport.
Guzman is due back in court on November 6 for a committal mention.