Greenfields hit-and-run: Brayden Lee Bradshaw jailed for more than two years

The family of Sherylee Bonney – who was left a tetraplegic after being run over on a Greenfields dirt track – say they are relieved the man who left her crying for help after striking her with his car was jailed for more than two years. Ruth Bonney and Robert Ugle explained the past few years had been difficult, not just because of Sherylee’s injuries but because they feared Brayden Lee Bradshaw would not be held accountable for what happened after a series of legal issues arose after he first pleaded guilty. But on Wednesday the father-of-three was handed a two-year and three-month jail term for failing to stop and help Sherylee after he realised he had hit her with his Mazda ute and for perverting the course of justice. Besides feeling relief and a sense of justice for their daughter, Sherylee’s parents also said they felt for Bradshaw and his family, telling The West Australian this tragic incident did not just affect their family. “I pray that he finds peace in his heart, Brayden, and his family,” Ms Bonney said. “It must be really heartbreaking for them at the moment. “I feel for them. Because it’s a ripple effect. It affects not only us but them as well as a family. I just pray they find comfort and peace and find a way to get past this. We have.” During the sentencing hearing, WA’s District Court was told Bradshaw deliberately tried to hide his involvement in the shocking hit and run by using his five-year-old son as an alibi and by concealing the car involved. Judge Wendy Gillan said not only did this divert police resources at the start of the investigation but it also led police to focus their inquiries on Sherylee’s family. She said while she accepted he would not have known this would happen, it caused extreme distress to Sherylee’s family because police suspected they may have caused her catastrophic injuries. She also said Bradshaw’s decision not to call for help after he realised he had struck her was a “grave moral failing” on his part but that moral failing only lasted 20 minutes. “Her (Sherylee) distress at being injured then left could only been exacerbated after being left a second time,” Judge Gillan said while sentencing Bradshaw. “That is clear from the victim impact statement. “That said I can’t find… when you first found her you could have provided active first aid other than immediately calling for an ambulance.” The court was told Bradshaw did not know he had struck Sherylee as he drove through the dirt track on his way to deliver KFC to a customer as part of his side gig as a DoorDash and Menulog driver on September 20, 2022. It was as he drove back through the same route that he saw the mother-of-five laying on the ground. But instead of stopping to help her, he drove back home grabbed his son and his bike and pretended to go for a walk. He then went back some 20 minutes later and called Triple-0 claiming he had stumbled across her after his son wanted to ride his bike on the dirt track. After police and paramedics arrived, Bradshaw returned home where he placed another car behind it on his driveway. The following day he drove it to his workplace in Bibra Lake and switched it with another car in a bid to avoid detection by police. When he did call Triple-0 he continued with the ruse claiming he didn’t know how she sustained the injuries. He only came forward with the truth the following day after his partner made him aware police were looking for his car. In sentencing Bradshaw, Judge Gillan took into account his guilty plea, genuine remorse, and that the offending was out of character. She jailed him for two years and three months, made him eligible for parole after serving half and backdated his sentence to February.