Paul Stuart Meadowcroft trial: Geraldton man guilty of intentionally driving into cyclist Steve Zimmermann

A jury has found a Geraldton motorist guilty of deliberately putting a German backpacker in a wheelchair for the rest of his life after a road-rage attack last year. Paul Stuart Meadowcroft was on trial this week after he was charged with intentionally endangering the life, health, or safety of cyclist Steve Zimmermann on April 1. After considering the evidence for almost three hours, a jury on Friday delivered their guilty verdict. The 51-year-old also pleaded guilty to failing to stop to render assistance to the the cyclist at the scene and reporting the incident to police. Speaking outside of court, Mr Zimmermann said the verdict had come as a relief. “I am feeling really good, we found justice. I can have a tick for that case and I can concentrate more on my rehab,” he said. “It is a long journey, I still make little improvements and it is still early days.” Throughout the trial, Meadowcroft admitted it was his dangerous driving which led to his Isuzu D-MAX ute hitting Mr Zimmermann on Bayly Street at about 1.25pm, causing the man bodily harm. But he denied he had any intention of harming the cyclist. The jury was earlier this week shown CCTV footage of a white four-wheel-drive with a red canopy — later identified as Meadowcroft’s — colliding with Mr Zimmermann, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Veteran major crash investigator Sen. Const. Keith Burrows told Geraldton’s District Court there was “no evidence at all” to suggest Meadowcroft had attempted to brake before the collision. Instead, Sen. Const. Burrows said tyre marks left on the unsealed surface between the bitumen and the footpath had been “cleaned” of gravel. He said this indicated Meadowcroft had his foot on the accelerator from the moment he mounted the curb to the point of impact with Mr Zimmermann on the footpath. Sen. Const. Burrows said there was no sign Meadowcroft had put on the brakes when he drove into Mr Zimmermann, with tyre marks instead suggesting the driver continued on to Bayly Street and back down the hill. He said there was evidence to support Meadowcroft’s claim that the car’s rear had yawed — or slid — slightly to the right before the impact but Sen. Const. Burrows said the driver should have still had control over steering the front wheels. Rehabilitation specialist Fiona McHugh worked with Mr Zimmermann when he was transferred to Fiona Stanley Hospital after his spinal surgery. Dr McHugh said Mr Zimmermann’s injuries had left him as a tetraplegic with no mobility below the waist and limited movement in his arms and hands. She said his was a permanent injury and he would never walk again, requiring assistance in self-care and other domestic tasks. Mr Zimmermann’s wheelchair had to be lifted into the witness box before he could give evidence at the trial, with the man unable to grasp a cup of water due to his injuries. The now 32-year-old’s memory of the moment he was struck by the car is not clear, with Mr Zimmerman saying he remembers seeing the four-wheel-drive coming “straight in (his) direction” before everything went black. He woke to discover he was on the ground in the “child’s pose” but initially thought he had not being seriously harmed. It was not until a witness to the incident — who told the trial he saw Mr Zimmermann fly four or five metres into the air — asked the cyclist if he needed help when he realised he could not move his arms or legs. “I realised I couldn’t feel my body at all,” he said. Mr Zimmermann admitted he became angry when a white four-wheel-drive drove forward and “interrupted” his path while he crossed the road at the roundabout at the intersection of Bayley and George streets. He told the trial he “gave the finger” to the driver three times and cursed at him in German while he cycled up the hill towards Quarry Street. But Meadowcroft told the trial he had stopped at the roundabout to allow Mr Zimmermann to cross and had not moved to block the cyclist. Defence counsel George Giudice said Meadowcroft was not angered by Mr Zimmerman’s gestures, and had made a U-turn at Quarry Street with the intention of pulling up alongside the cyclist to ask “what his problem was”. Meadowcroft then claimed to change his mind at the last minute and had planned to continue on without talking to Mr Zimmermann. He said he did not see Mr Zimmermann in front of him “until the last second” as he had been looking left towards the road, instead of straight ahead in the direction of the car. When asked why he did not attempt to avoid hitting the cyclist Meadowcroft said: “I don’t know.” He estimated his speed to be 20-25km/h at the time of impact and said he did not try to turn to correct the arc of his back tyres because he felt like he did not have control of the car. Meadowcroft said he thought he had “clipped” the cyclist with the back of his car and “panicked” instead of stopping to help Mr Zimmermann. “I didn’t think he was hurt that bad,” he said. When he was arrested over the incident, Meadowcroft told police: “I have been s....ing myself ever since. I just panicked . . . it was an accident.” In closing, prosecutor Lester Hobson said Mr Zimmermann’s behaviour towards Meadowcroft did not justify the driver “directly and deliberately” driving into the cyclist. He questioned why Mr Zimmermann would have cursed and made rude gestures towards Meadowcroft had the driver not impeded his crossing the road. Mr Giudice said the incident happened “in a matter of seconds” and Meadowcroft had “no intention of hurting anybody”.