Jessica Moad in Orange Local Court after car catches fire in Dubbo police pursuit

Jessica Moad reached speeds of 150km/h hour and crashed three times during the pursuit through residential streets in Dubbo on March 6 last year.

The 30-year-old lived at Spring Hill at the time of the pursuit but more recently moved to Blayney after completing residential drug rehabilitation.

Moad initially denied being the driver despite police pulling her from the driver's seat moments before the car was engulfed in flames.

She has since pleaded guilty to police pursuit, driving while her licence was disqualified and property damage for lights that were destroyed due to her bad driving. She was on bail when she appeared in Orange Local Court on Wednesday.

Her barrister Frances Lalic argued for a community based sentence, highlighting Moad's efforts at rehabilitation since the offence.

Ms Lalic said Moad spent five-and-a-half months in custody, has been drug-free for 15 months, completed a residential rehabilitation program to address her "substance misuse disorder"and random drug tests have come back negative.

Ms Lalic said Moad also has recently been diagnosed with an intellectual and cognitive disability.

However, police prosecutor Sergeant Beau Riley emphasised it was Moad's fourth police pursuit through a town and she reached speeds of 150km/h plus.

Sergeant Riley said Moad was still serving an intensive correction order at the time of the Dubbo pursuit where her driving led to her crash three times.

"The vehicle stops the pursuit, not Ms Moad, the vehicle catches fire," he said.

He said her previous pursuit through Orange from Clinton Street to Spring Hill caused "excessive danger" due to "the amount of schools and parks she went past".

He said she should also receive full-time jail because this was her 16^th major traffic offence.

"She is a danger, she has had the leniency from the District Court to receive the ICO," Sergeant Riley said.

"The community needs to know that these pursuits are dangerous, that they are protected.

"If she's released and gets back out there again next time we might not be so lucky."

According to court documents, police saw a black Subaru Liberty travelling at excessive speed make a sharp left turn from out of Braun Avenue and accelerate harshly east along Myall Street at 2.53am on March 6, 2022.

Police activated their warning lights and the vehicle continued to accelerate away so a pursuit was initiated.

During the pursuit Moad came within a metre of crashing through the front wall of a house when she failed to negotiate a corner at an intersection and slid side-ways across a lawn on St Georges Terrace.

Police approached the vehicle believing the occupants were about to flee on foot. However, the car accelerated away.

Police continued the pursuit which reached speeds up to 110km/h as it approached the Myall Street intersection where the driver made a sharp right turn onto Myall Street.

Moad reached 150km/h while driving on the wrong side of the road along Myall Street then she turned right around the wrong side of a roundabout.

Police said she sped through a number of residential streets making numerous turns with no attempt to slow at intersections and she displayed poor driving skills, braking suddenly and sharply at corners and over steered and corrected on numerous occasions.

Later in the pursuit she approached the Wheelers Lane roundabout at high speed and again attempted to go around on the wrong side.

She failed to negotiate the turn and slid sideways slamming the vehicle into the roundabout causing significant damage to the front passenger side tyre and the engine bay.

Police saw a large amount of sparks come from under the vehicle as it slid uncontrolled over the roundabout.

Moad continued driving and pushed the Subaru to its limit while again travelling on the wrong side of the road. She turned into the Apollo Estate area and smoke was seen pouring from the vehicle while she negotiated a number of turns.

The pursuit came to a dramatic end when she ploughed through the Collins and Braun avenue intersection and into a gutter.

Smoke filled the air and numerous police vehicles pulled up as a male was seen fleeing on foot. He jumped a number of fences and avoided arrest.

Moad was in the driver's seat when police opened the driver's door and an under-age girl was removed from the back seat. They were both arrested before the vehicle ignited under the engine bay.

NSW Fire Brigade were called to put out the flames and Moad and the girl were taken to Dubbo Police Station.

During her arrest the Moad screamed, "I wasn't driving, I wasn't driving," and when police asked her who the driver was and she said, "I don't know".

Moad was subject to supervision by Probation and Parole and was fitted with an ankle monitor, she was also subject to an intensive correction order until December 14, 2023 with a home detention period concluding October 14, 2022.

Magistrate David Day described some of Moad's reasoning in reports that were provided to the court as self-serving and "narcissistic almost".

He said he previously jailed her for another pursuit but the sentence was reduced on appeal.

"Ms Moad's previous complete disregard for community safety in my view takes a community-based order off the table," Mr Day said.

He gave Moad a 12-month full-time jail sentence with a six-month non-parole period from June 22, 2023 to December 21, 2023.

Moad was also ordered to pay $3000 for lights she damaged during the pursuit.

She was quiet when custody officers entered the courtroom and spoke briefly with a supporter before being led out in handcuffs.

Mr Day also disqualified Moad's driver's licence when the case was previously mentioned in Orange Local Court on May 4. On that day he disqualified her from driving for 12 months for the police pursuit and for six months for driving while her licence was disqualified.

At the same time he convicted her without further penalty for not disclosing the identity of a driver or passenger.

Ms Lalic lodged a severity appeal, which is to be heard in Orange District Court and applied for bail emphasising Moad's rehabilitation.

However, Mr Day refused bail said rehabilitation is only one consideration for sentence and general deterrence is also important.

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