Richard Pusey allegedly used grisly images for $1.5M insurance scam

After famously filming the horrific Eastern Freeway collision which killed four police officers, infamous Porsche driver Richard Pusey tried to use the photos to make an insurance claim for $1.5 million, a court has heard.

Police allege Pusey, 44, distributed graphic pictures of the April 2020 crash – some of which showed the severely injured officers – online in a Google review of a car dealership and for a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

The former mortgage broker, who identifies as non-binary, will be self-represented throughout the hearing to fight the charges.

Pusey faced Sunshine Magistrate’s Court in prison greens on Tuesday after pleading not guilty to two charges of using a carriage service in an offensive manner and two charges of breaching their bail by allegedly reoffending.

Pusey was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment on April 28, 2021, after they were found guilty of outraging public decency by filming the deaths of four police officers. Pusey had been pulled over by police for speeding when a truck veered into the emergency lane and fatally hit the four officers.

The court heard Pusey allegedly published graphic images of the officers online during two separate complaints in relation to the damage to their Porsche sustained during the tragic Eastern Freeway collision.

In the submission to the AFCA, Pusey said they have been unable to secure an insurance payout for the damage done to their car because “no one wants to own the claim.”

“A truck mowed down four hero road safety officers … It broke a black Porsche and now these c—s won’t pay up,” they complained to the authority.

The court heard they asked for $1.5 million in damages for the trauma of seeing the police officers violently killed in the crash.

However, the senior AFCA manager in charge of the claim, Harry Ganavas, told the court the images attached to the claim were irrelevant and Pusey’s description of events left him “full of revulsion”.

“I felt repulsed and physically ill, actually, when I viewed the photographs,” he said.

Police prosecutor Anthony Albore told the court one of the images submitted didn’t even show the damage done to the Porsche.

The “inappropriate and disrespectful” claim was denied.

The court heard Pusey also uploaded a one-star Google review about Porsche Centre Melbourne, in which they criticized the company’s insurance policy and level of customer service.

An investigating police officer told the court the 44-year-old used a graphic photo of one of the bleeding police officers on the roof of the Porsche for their Google profile picture.

The officer said she felt “angry and outraged” when she saw the horrific image of the fatal tragedy.

Albore claimed an Instagram account called “The Richard Pusey Show” contained a non-confronting photo showing the damage to the Porsche, which they could have used for their complaints.

The prosecutor alleged there were a number of personal details on the Instagram account which proved it was run by Pusey.

The Porsche driver told the court the prosecution was “telling a story”.

The hearing continues before Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz on Wednesday.