Perth obstetrician ‘driving 130km/h in 50 zone’ before fatal crash, court told
Bellinge and his wife had recently separated, with the dashcam footage from his car at the time of the incident revealing some “unflattering remarks” about her.
“We have a nine-minute period between 10.02pm and 10.11pm that have put him here, we have an upstanding citizen otherwise,” defence lawyer Tony Hager said.
Police prosecutors opposed bail, saying the offence was too serious and jail was almost certain if Bellinge is convicted.
They also claimed Bellinge and his family were “of extreme wealth” and he could easily flee if released from custody.
Bellinge is the son of multimillionaire businessman Bruce Bellinge.
A magistrate will decide whether to grant him bail on Tuesday after reviewing the dashcam footage.
Rhys Bellinge has been charged with manslaughter.
Witnesses at the crash site on Saturday night described how bystanders rushed to help the woman who died.
“It was just a massive crash … an awful thing to hear,” resident Ellen told 9News Perth, saying a member of the public gave CPR until the ambulance arrived, “quite a bit later”.
The driver of the Honda Jazz, a man in his 20s, was left trapped in the car and emergency services had to cut him out using the jaws of life.
He remains in a serious but stable condition in Royal Perth Hospital.
The doctor also suffered serious injuries and was taken to Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital, where he remains in a spinal brace.
He has been charged with manslaughter and aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
Bellinge’s obstetrics website says he will be unavailable for appointments due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
The website described him as a fertility doctor and father-of-two.
“He was a pioneer in freezing human eggs in 2008 and performed Western Australia’s first embryo biopsy for genetic testing in 2005,” it read.
Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.
