IN A CASE THAT WILL SEND shivers down your spine, a Traffic and Highway Patrol officer stationed at Gundagai in NSW has faked infringement notices to boost his statistics and protect his rank, Wagga Court has heard.

The officer, 39-year-old Stephen Alan Saltmarsh, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of unauthorised modification of restricted data in the NSW Police Force computer system (known as COPS) and three counts of knowingly making a false statement.

Saltmarsh was scheduled to be sentenced on March 21 although one of his options was to make an application to have the charges dismissed under Section 32 of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act.

Undisputed facts tendered to the court revealed Saltmarsh repeatedly entered false information into the police computer at the Gundagai police station between May 28 and July 18 last year.

Saltmarsh entered names of people he purported to have booked who were from other countries, including China, Vietnam, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Thailand and South Korea, claiming to have picked them up on the Hume Highway for traffic offences that included speeding, driving in the wrong lane, inappropriate use of high beam, minor vehicle defects, driving an unregistered vehicle and not wearing a seat belt.

The offences came to light on July 30 when the Office of State Revenue contacted police to notify them of discrepancies.

It was found that in nearly 20 cases, there was no record of the people booked by Saltmarsh having entered Australia and the ACT registration numbers of their vehicles either didn’t exist or belonged to other vehicles. There were no in-car recordings of the stops, although there were recordings of vehicle stops before and after.

Saltmarsh was interviewed and charged on November 24.

This brings up an interesting point: if, was we are regularly told, there is no quota for police officers issuing traffic infringement notices, why would a Highway patrolman feel the need to increase his numbers to protect his rank? And if there is a quota, how does this contribute to saving lives and reducing the road toll? In any case, we have often commented that police officers are under increasing pressure, made worse by being seen by the public as revenue collectors rather than performing a public service. Our sympathies go out to Leading Senior Constable Alan Saltmarsh, even though his actions were clearly unprofessional, and to his long-suffering colleagues. They deserve better.

TRAFFIC was reduced to a crawl on the Hume Highway at Carrick, about 12km north of Goulburn, after a small truck fire about 3pm today.

Traffic queued as far back as the Towrang turn off, about 1.5km south.

RFS and RMS traffic control crews were on scene to clean up the mess, which was understood to be caused by a fuel leak.

A small fire also broke out, but was quickly extinguished with fire fighting equipment.

The driver of the truck, which was hauling an excavator, is believed to be unhurt.

One northbound lane is still closed so that the truck can be moved to safer ground.

Drivers are urged to slow down and take caution. The other northbound lane is open to traffic

A man has been charged after a search warrant in Wagga Wagga uncovered a firearm and drugs yesterday.
About 10.20am (Thursday 24 March 2016), police from Wagga Wagga Local Area Command stopped a vehicle as it left a home on Elanora Place, Glenfield Park, and spoke with the 34-year-old male driver.

Officers then executed a search warrant at the man’s address on Elanora Place.

During the search warrant, police allegedly located a SKS rifle, ammunition, knuckle dusters, and drugs, believed to be ‘ice’.

The man was arrested and taken to Wagga Wagga Police Station.

He was charged with possess unauthorised prohibited firearm, possess unregistered firearm, not keep firearm safely, possess ammunition, holder of category A or B licence not have approved storage, possess, supply or make explosive for unlawful purpose, possess or use a prohibited weapon without permit, and deal with proceeds of crime.

He was refused bail to appear at Wagga Wagga Local Court today (Friday 25 March 2016).

A two-truck smash has caused hundreds of litres of diesel to spill onto the Hume Highway near Bowning, firefighters say.

One person sustained minor injuries when the two northbound b-double trucks crashed about 6.30am on Wednesday morning, NSW Police said.

Firefighters are working to contain up to 400 litres of spilt fuel, just south of the Lachlan Valley Way turnoff.

Drivers are advised to reduce speed and exercise caution although traffic is flowing freely.

In a separate incident, a large amount of fuel spilled onto the highway near Goulburn after two trucks collided about 2.30pm.

Northbound traffic was delayed after the vehicles crashed and one truck caught fire near Tiyces Lane at Boxers Creek.

No-one was injured. Police had left the scene by about 3.30pm.

A man was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after his car collided with a truck on the Hume Highway near Goulburn, sparking lengthy delays for northbound motorists on Monday afternoon.

Emergency services crews and a police crash investigation team were called to the scene of the crash about 2.30pm.

Police said the car’s male driver was airlifted to Canberra Hospital in a serious condition.

The driver of the truck would undergo mandatory blood and urine testing.

Northbound lanes of the highway near the Hume Street turn-off were closed for at least two hours, and police put a contra-flow lane in place to let motorists through and ease delays.

Drivers were urged to avoid the area due to heavy traffic, with queues stretching about four kilometres south.

All lanes were reopened by 6pm but traffic in the area remained congested.