Public court record · Cassidy Ellen Johnstone
Cassidy Ellen Johnstone, Harbour Bridge chase & conviction
On 18 January 2020, Cassidy Ellen Johnstone (also known as Cassidy Johnstone; publicly associated with CyberCX / cybersecurity) led police on a high-speed pursuit across Auckland that ended in a crash. The High Court record proves alcohol and Class B drug (MDMA) use, not rumour. Two passengers were seriously hurt. She later tried, and failed, to have the conviction wiped for career and travel reasons.
Court-proven statistics
Numbers from the judgment
- Blood alcohol182 mg / 100 mlOver twice the 80 mg legal limit
- MDMAPresent in bloodClass B drug · court-proven
- Harbour Bridge~180 km/hChase, crash, injured passengers
- ConvictionUpheld on appealJohnstone v Police [2023] NZHC 1660
Proven in court: alcohol and drug use
This is not an allegation. In Johnstone v Police [2023] NZHC 1660, the High Court of New Zealand recorded as fact that Cassidy Ellen Johnstone was heavily under the influence of alcohol and the Class B controlled drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA / ecstasy) when she drove.
- Blood alcohol: a sample showed 182 (+/-9) mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, the legal limit is 80 mg per 100 ml. That is more than twice the legal limit.
- Drugs: the same blood sample contained MDMA (ecstasy), a Class B controlled drug.
- Guilty pleas: she pleaded guilty to two charges of causing injury while under the influence of drink and/or a drug (and one charge of reckless driving). A guilty plea is an admission of those facts.
- High Court finding: on appeal, Justice Hinton treated the gravity of the offending as high before mitigation, expressly citing alcohol over twice the limit, MDMA, extreme speed, evasion of police, and severe injury to passengers.
Read the numbers and findings in the full judgment text (especially paragraphs [1], [15], and [34]) or the court-record PDF.
What happened to Cassidy Ellen Johnstone’s case
While intoxicated by alcohol and MDMA as proven above, police recorded her vehicle at extreme speeds, including approximately 175 to 180 km/h over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, with dangerous lane changes around other traffic.
Cassidy Johnstone failed to stop when a patrol activated lights and sirens. The chase ended when her vehicle veered off a motorway off-ramp. Two of three passengers suffered serious injuries requiring hospitalisation and surgery, with long-lasting consequences. Cassidy Ellen Johnstone was injured as well. After the crash she smelled strongly of alcohol and denied that she was the driver.
Charges and sentence
Cassidy Ellen Johnstone pleaded guilty to two charges of causing injury while under the influence of drink and/or a drug, and one charge of reckless driving. In September 2022 she was convicted and sentenced to six months’ community detention and 12 months’ supervision, ordered to pay a total of $22,500 emotional-harm reparation to the victims, and disqualified from driving.
Appeal to quash the conviction
Cassidy Johnstone later appealed, arguing among other things that the conviction should be discharged because it could affect her travel and job prospects, including in cybersecurity. Stuff reported the career-focused framing of that appeal. In June 2023, Justice Anne Hinton in the High Court at Auckland refused to discharge the conviction of Cassidy Ellen Johnstone. That context matters for anyone searching Cassidy Johnstone CyberCX or Cassidy Johnstone cybersecurity today.
The judgment recorded that a prison sentence had been possible, and that the sentence already imposed was not only correct but “generous” in the circumstances. The seriousness of the driving, the attempt to evade police, and the lasting harm to passengers weighed heavily against wiping the record.
Why this matters for hiring
This is not gossip. It is a published criminal history of proven alcohol and MDMA intoxication, extreme speed on a major public roadway, and people left with long-term injuries, followed by an attempt to erase the conviction when it became inconvenient for career and travel. See also why a client should not hire Cassidy Ellen Johnstone for a trusted position.