An off-duty Sydney police sergeant has been found guilty of using her rank and authority to avoid being randomly breath tested by a junior colleague.
Sarah Louise Johnston, 50, drove away from the RBT site without having been tested after a short conversation with the rookie cop in North Sydney on January 8, 2016.
Officer Tugcan Sackesen told the court he felt ‘intimidated’ when Johnston said it would be a conflict of interest if he breath tested her.
‘I was taught to respect authority and she’s a sergeant of police and I’m a probationary constable with a year’s experience,’ he said at the trial.
Sarah Louise Johnston, 50, (pictured) has been found guilty of using her rank and authority to avoid being randomly breath tested by a junior colleague
A jury on Friday found Johnston guilty of one count of doing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice.
The Downing Centre District Court trial before Judge Chris Hoy heard Johnston drank at least one schooner of beer while celebrating the new year with colleagues from North Sydney Police Station at two nearby pubs.
She was driving home to the Central Coast when she was pulled over at a random breath testing site on the Pacific Highway at Crows Nest.
The two junior officers conducting the RBTs – Constable Cameron Brooks and Constable Sackesen – immediately recognised her.
She drove away from the RBT site without having been tested after a short conversation with the rookie cop at North Sydney on January 8, 2016 (stock photo used)
Const Sackesen said Johnston first pulled her car up alongside Const Brooks but rolled forward towards him before Const Brooks could breath test her.
‘Hi sergeant, you’ve just been stopped for a random breath test,’ Const Sackesen told her.
He said she replied: ‘You’re not going to breath test me are you?’
‘Yes sergeant, I am,’ he said.
The Downing Centre District Court (pictured) trial before Judge Chris Hoy heard Johnston drank at least one schooner of beer while celebrating the new year with colleagues
A jury on Friday found Johnston guilty of one count of doing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice
She allegedly said: ‘No because that would be a conflict of interest.’
‘Imagine if I blew over, which I won’t, because I’m not.’
He said she told him it would put him in an ‘awkward situation’.
‘She was confident and stern,’ he said.
‘The manner in which it was said came across as a little bit aggressive to the point I believed she was telling the truth and I was wrong.’
Johnston will face a sentencing hearing on December 1.
Johnston was celebrating the new year with colleagues from the North Sydney Police Station at two nearby pubs