The Advertiser: It’s like McGee all over again
THE brother of cyclist Ian Humphrey – killed by lawyer Eugene McGee in the well-publicised Kapunda Rd hit-run incident – has lashed out at the police’s failure to breath-test Adelaide Crows player Graham Johncock. Graham Humphrey has demanded to know why Johncock did not undergo a blood-alcohol test when police went to his home 15 minutes after his vehicle was involved in a crash at Henley Beach in the early hours of Monday morning.

“It’s classic tones of McGee – I don’t understand why it happens that people like that aren’t breath-tested,” Mr Humphrey said. “Why don’t high-profile people get tested? “My personal view is I don’t know why he took off but it shouldn’t stop him from being tested.”

Despite knowing Johncock had earlier been at the Stamford Grand Hotel in Glenelg and that his car was involved in a crash, a spokeswoman for acting Police Commissioner John White said officers had to have a “reasonable belief” that a person was driving before a breath-test was undertaken.

Mr Humphrey said the law made it too easy for drivers to “run away” and avoid being checked for alcohol. “He owns the car, there was a crash, he left the scene – so why not breath-test him.

“The whole thing stinks – the average Joe Public has had a gutful.”

Referring to the recent Royal Commission and why McGee was not breath-tested on the night of the fatal accident on Kapunda Rd, Mr Humphrey said little seemed to have changed. McGee, 50, was acquitted of driving in a dangerous manner but pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was fined $3100 and handed a 12-month licence suspension.

“You’d think that after everything that’s gone on, he would have been tested,” Mr Humphrey said. “Everyone who gets behind the wheel of a car has a responsibility and that is to face up to your actions. It’s never going to end, is it?”

After initially claiming he was not driving the Commodore when the crash happened and claiming it was stolen, Johncock finally admitted the next day he was, in fact, the driver. One car was written off by the insurer and another is being repaired. Johncock has been charged with making a false report to police, failing to truthfully answer questions, failing to provide details and driving without due care.

It is known he was socialising with friends, including Crows team-mate Fergus Watts, at the Stamford Grand last Sunday night. It is unclear what time he left the hotel or whether he was in a taxi or driven by friends to another destination.

But police said he returned to collect his car in Durham St, Glenelg, just a short distance from the hotel. It is believed Johncock drove north along Seaview Rd, turning into Marlborough St, Henley Beach, at 12.45am – and then slammed into two parked cars owned by Rebecca and Patrick Graham. Johncock then fled the scene to his nearby home.

When police attended his house at 1am he told officers, who were seeking more details about the accident, that his car had been stolen. However, for reasons that are not known, Johncock or his manager, Geof Motley, later informed police that he was the driver.

A police spokesman would not comment on whether officers had suspected Johncock to be under the influence of alcohol when they visited his home – despite knowing the circumstances surrounding the incident. Acting Superintendent Brian Smith, of Port Adelaide police, said officers who questioned Johncock did not believe there was sufficient evidence to suggest he was driving.

A spokesman for Commissioner Mal Hyde also refused to outline details surrounding the laying of a disorderly conduct charge or why it was dropped.

The Sunday Mail also asked police to clarify the following:

GIVEN the vehicle was abandoned near Johncock’s house and he admitted being at a hotel, why didn’t officers take the view that he may have been the driver and that he may have been drinking?

HAVE police spoken with other people who drove with him in the first instance from the hotel and was he driven home before returning by taxi to the hotel?

Police declined to specifically address the questions, but confirmed the officers who attended Johncock’s house were not those who attended the accident scene.

Mrs Graham said it was fortunate the accident happened in the early hours and that they and their 11-month-old daughter were not in one of the cars.

“We are just lucky we are usually in bed by 10pm because we have a young baby,” she said.

“Ruby could have been in the back of either of those cars. It’s a real worry.”