Jesse-Jordan Pearce and Cameron Faust: Notorious BASE jumper avoids jail over Elizabeth Quay jump

Notorious Perth base jumper Jesse-Jordan Pearce has closely avoided jail for his fourth trespassing charge in the past two years, after leaping off a construction building with three other men last month. Police said Pearce broke into a half-built, high-rise building at Elizabeth Quay before jumping off the 27th floor with Cameron Faust, Mathew John Ross and one other man just after midnight on August 18. They were met by officers and the dog squad unit when they ascended to the ground, who quickly arrested them as they tried to flee. One man was issued a trespass infringement notice, while Pearce and Ross — both of whom were fined for base jumping off the Exchange Plaza tower in 2019 — were charged with one count of trespass. Faust was also charged with one count of obstructing a public officer after refusing to tell police his name and being “verbally aggressive” towards the officers. The 34-year-old’s defence lawyer explained his client was angry because the police car ran over one of the base jumpers’ parachutes and he though it had “ran over his friend”. The court was told Pearce and Faust usually base jumped in Europe, where it was legal, however felt “cooped up” in WA due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and had “an itch to do it” here. The pair attended court separately to their co-offender Ross, who was fined $1800. Faust was fined a total of $1000 for both of his offences, while Pearce was slapped with the biggest fine of $4000 — despite the prosecution pushing for a community order instead — and both were granted spent convictions. During sentencing, Pearce was told he was “skating on very thin ice” by the Magistrate, who said if the 28-year-old surveyor came back to court for the fifth time he would be facing jail time.