The father of former NSW police minister Troy Grant has been jailed for dangerous driving causing death.
The 72-year-old had claimed he was sleepwalking and his driving was involuntary.
However, District court judge John Hatzistergos did not accept this and found him guilty of the offence after a trial.
He has been jailed for three years and 10 months.
The Offence of Dangerous Driving Causing Death
Ken Grant was found guilty after a judge-alone trial of dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop after a fatal crash, police pursuit and high range drink driving.
He after collided with the victim at 11.24pm on 30 November 2019 in Maitland. The 62-year-old victim died at Newcastle's John Hunter hospital shortly afterwards.
Grant had been at a party beforehand where attendees described him as being "hammered".
Police breath tested him after his arrest and he registered a blood alcohol level of 0.108. He later underwent blood tests which registered a reading of 0.194.
Ken Grant, claimed to have no memory of the crash. The collision threw the victim 20 metres forward as he was walking with his wife, Nerida Greenfield.
Victim Impact Statements
Judge Hatzistergos said he took into account powerful victim impact statements from the victim's wife and daughter.
Nerida Greenfield wrote that the last seconds of her husband's life would be etched into her brain for the rest of her life. She repeatedly relived the accident and would see her husband flying through the air before Grant drove off.
She wrote that she still experienced flashbacks of how Mr Greenfield's body felt in her arms when lying on the grass.
Judge Hatzistergos found that after the accident, Grant was genuinely sorry for what he had done.
This was despite him repeatedly telling officers that he was the police minister's father when police tried to arrest him.
He had to be dragged out of his car and handcuffed and stated, "My son is Troy Grant, the police minister, and I'm pissed."
Jailed for Dangerous Driving Causing Death
Ken Granted was jailed for three years and 10 months at Wollongong District Court.
Judge Hatzistergos told the 72-year-old defendant there was no escaping the fact he had deliberately driven a car when he was in "no fit state to do so".
His Honour accepted Grant – a retired police inspector – was genuinely remorseful. Judge Hatzistergos had penned an apology letter to the court which stated, "Taking a man's life has left me with the deepest regret and guilt that will live with me for ever."
However, he found Grant's degree of moral culpability for dangerous driving was high.
He did not accept that Grant had been suffering from somnambulism (sleepwalking) at the time of the accident.
His criminal defence lawyers argued that Grant was either sleepwalking, had transient global amnesia – a sudden temporary episode of memory loss – or had sleep apnoea and his driving was not voluntarily.
The court heard expert evidence from Dr David Rosen, a neurologist. Dr Rosen said it was more likely Grant had an alcohol-induced blackout.
Ken Grant will be eligible for parole after serving one year and 11 months.
Dangerous Driving Causing Death Charges
The definition of dangerous driving occasioning death under Section 52A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) is a person driving dangerously who is involved in an impact, and that impact causes the death of another.
The maximum penalty for Dangerous Driving occasioning Death is 10 years imprisonment.
The maximum penalty for Aggravated Dangerous Driving Occasioning Death is 14 years imprisonment.
Taking a look at sentencing statistics for dangerous driving occasioning death, it is clear that jail is a real possibility. To illustrate this, 96% of offenders were sentenced to some form of imprisonment. 62% of offenders were sentenced to full-time jail. The remaining 4% of offenders received criminal convictions.
This is why it is important to obtain advice from a specialist dangerous driving lawyer who have successfully defended hundreds of these charges. Call Astor Legal on (02) 7804 2823. Or, you can email info@astorlegal.com.au.
You can fight a Dangerous Driving Occasioning Death charge in two ways. Firstly, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt:
- You drove a vehicle (this means that you were "in control of the steering, movement or propulsion of a vehicle");
- That vehicle was involved in an impact;
- The impact caused death to another person;
- At the time of the impact you were:
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- Under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or
- driving the vehicle at a speed or in a manner that created a danger to other users of the road.
In the present case, the degree of Ken Grant's intoxication would be sufficient to prove that his driving was dangerous.
