Bail puzzle for fatal crash accused

A Geraldton magistrate said she would be “unwilling to the make the call” on whether a 44-year-old Frenchman charged over a fatal crash near Kalbarri would be allowed to return home on bail.

Jean-Christophe Andrew Kerambloch appeared in the Geraldton Magistrate's Court today, charged with dangerous driving causing death.

He has yet to enter a plea.

Mr Kerambloch’s defence counsel, George Giudice, asked that the matter be adjourned to a disclosure date.

Magistrate Donna Webb adjourned the matter to October 24 for a committal mention, but asked whether Mr Kerambloch was going to cope financially in the meantime.

In response, Mr Giudice said he could foreshadow that in the next week he would make an application to vary bail, and that part of the application would be allowing Mr Kerambloch to leave the country.

Ms Webb alerted Mr Giudice that if he were to do so she would be unwilling to make the call on whether Mr Kerambloch would be allowed to go back to France, and that was something a Supreme Court would be more suited to hearing.

She directed Mr Giudice to contact the Director of Public Prosecutions and discuss the matter with them before setting down a date for the bail variation.

“I know France has extradition treaties,” she said.

Currently the conditions of Mr Kerambloch’s bail prevent him from leaving Geraldton, going within 1km of an international departure point, and prevent him from driving any vehicle in Australia.

At a court appearance on July 22 he was required to forfeit his passport and provide a $10,000 personal undertaking.

The dangerous driving charge relates to a fatal crash on July 19 on George Grey Drive, about 17km south of Kalbarri, involving an orange Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a white Toyota Kluger station sedan.

A 52-year-old Howatharra man died in the crash.