Brett Henson argued he was acting under duress when he jumped into the driver’s seat of the vehicle and took off after a night out at Shell House and The Ivy restaurant and bar on November 4,2022.
Brett Henson (left) arrives at court on Monday with his lawyer Paul McGirr.Steven Siewert
The 44-year-old previously told his hearing by a group of large men who said they were both the “Muslim brotherhood” and the police.
Henson worked at the time as senior capital transactions manager for property giant Mirvac,but in March said he was unemployed.
He pleaded not guilty to taking and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent,driving recklessly and in a manner dangerous,and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Delivering his decision in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday,magistrate Gregory Moore found Henson guilty of the vehicle theft and drunk driving.
“I do not accept the accused was forced to drive the vehicle because of those threats,” he said.
The magistrate said Henson “could have taken steps to make the threats ineffective” by phoning triple zero or calling out to passers-by. He said the prosecutor had eliminated the defence of duress.
However,Moore said there was insufficient evidence to establish the reckless driving charge,which was an allegation of a minor collision along the route,and found Henson not guilty of that offence.
The court viewed CCTV of Henson that night,including him holding the taxi’s front passenger door handle and falling onto his back,with his legs in the air,before he ran from the scene and was followed by the driver. The footage showed Henson then returning to the car and driving away.
Brett Henson has pleaded not guilty to three charges after police allege he stole a taxi while under the influence of alcohol from Sydney's CBD.
Henson had claimed the taxi driver Syed Khan tried to “extort” money from him for the damaged door handle,and his offer to put it on the bill was not accepted.
Khan gave evidence that Henson was “aggressive and shouting”,and had said,“You want to fight with me?”
The magistrate did not accept the defence claim that Henson had simply slipped while trying to open the door,or that Khan then tried to extort him.
Henson had said he left the taxi and was pursued on foot,before a group of four or five large men who were “much bigger” than him took the side of the driver.
Henson told the court he asked,“Who are you guys?” and they said,“We’re the Muslim brotherhood”.
“When it got very heated up,I told them to call the police … they responded with,‘We are the police’,” he said.
Henson said he had been “petrified” as the group chased him for hundreds of metres and surrounded him.
He said he was “belted” to the ground and his shirt was ripped open,the men had screamed “let’s f---ing get him”,and he “feared for[his] life”. Henson claimed the taxi was his “only option to escape”.
Henson’s lawyer Paul McGirr had argued his client got himself out of the area as he had “genuine concerns”.
The magistrate was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt Henson was intoxicated when he got into the driver’s seat.
Henson admitted he went through multiple red lights as he drove from Hunter Street,down Macquarie Street,onto the Cahill Expressway and the Eastern Distributor before stopping the 13 Cabs taxi at Queen Street in Woollahra.
After the decision,McGirr told the court it was accepted Henson would be convicted but submitted that he should receive a conditional release order.
He said it was a unique situation and Henson was a “diligent and hard-working man”. McGirr said people who know his client had seen the footage of him behind the wheel and commented that he was the “least likely” person they would expect to be involved in the “strange set of circumstances”.
Outside court,McGirr said Henson “took the matter into his own hands to get out of the situation”,and now wants to put it behind him.
Henson will be sentenced on June 24.
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