Alleged teen rider in beloved nurse Shelley Spinks’ Edgewater e-motorbike crash death has plea offer rejected

Lawyers for a 17-year-old accused of killing a nurse by slamming into her with his e-motorbike in an Edgewater park have had their offer for a plea deal rejected by prosecutors. Shelley Spinks, 59, died after being struck while walking through Picnic Cove Park on the afternoon of July 26. The teen — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — was released on bail after being charged with a string of offences including manslaughter and driving while impaired by drugs. He is fighting those two charges but has pleaded guilty to others. He faced Perth Children’s Court in person on Thursday, when defence counsel Simon Watters revealed a plea offer based on interim reports by two former WA Police crash investigation experts was knocked back. Mr Watters said final reports were now being sought from those experts, and it could be that there ended up being not much divergence with the State’s own crash expert report. A report from a toxicologist on the issue of cannabis impairment had just been received, he said. The court was previously told the boy had no criminal history, was not attending school, had been diagnosed with ADHD and was prescribed medicinal cannabis. Mr Watters said he did not yet know if the defence would rely on the toxicology report. Court President Hylton Quail scheduled a further hearing on April 16 without setting a trial date as it is not yet clear if the proceedings will take more than a week or just a few days. The teen’s bail was renewed.