A hit-and-run driver who killed a teenager who was crossing the road has been described by a judge as a “stupid and irresponsible menace on the road”.
Dylan Mark Norman, 24, of Baddaginnie, pleaded guilty in the Shepparton County Court to failing to stop at a fatal accident, destroying a thing to prevent it being used in evidence in court, dangerous driving causing death and a summary charge of driving while disqualified.
The charges relate to a hit-and-run crash where Benalla 16-year-old Caleb Puttyfoot was killed after he was hit by Norman’s ute in Bridge St West in Benalla on August 4 last year.
Norman had been driving his Mitsubishi Triton ute west on Bridge St West when he hit Caleb, who was running across the road just before the intersection with Arundel St, shortly after 9.15pm.
It was dark and raining and Caleb had just finished a shift at a nearby pizza shop, before he ran across the road about “one or two metres” from a pedestrian crossing against a red signal.
Norman had been driving at at least 76km/h in a 60km/h zone, and was facing a green light.
However, in sentencing, Judge Geoffrey Chettle said Norman “should not have been driving at all” because his licence had been disqualified.
Caleb was thrown across Norman’s bonnet and landed on the ground on a median strip 40m away.
Norman did not stop, instead driving off.
He then went to a neighbour’s property at Baddaginnie the night of the crash and made repairs to the bonnet of his ute that night.
Caleb was flown by air ambulance to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he died nine days later.
Judge Chettle referred to victim impact statements by Caleb’s mother, a brother and a sister, and said each of them had been “shattered” by Caleb’s death.
In her victim impact statement, Caleb’s mother Michelle Guppy spoke of her “fun-loving goofball that would make everybody laugh and smile” and told how losing her son had been “the most painful and traumatic experience of my life”.
In sentencing Norman to jail, Judge Chettle said general deterrence was an important factor in his sentencing.
“People minded to drive how you did need to appreciate if they drive as you did, they will go to jail,” he said.
“A young man has lost his life because of your dangerous behaviour.
“It was preventable.
“You have demonstrated yourself as a stupid and irresponsible menace on the road.”
Judge Chettle also slammed Norman for not stopping after the collision and his actions in trying to conceal the crime.
“Your failure to stop was cowardly and contemptible,” Judge Chettle said.
“You knew you were a disqualified driver and should not have been driving.
“You knew you were driving irresponsibly and dangerously.
“You were motivated by self-interest and protection.
“You attempted to conceal your crime by tampering with evidence — that is the damage to your motor vehicle — and that demonstrates your self-interest and state of mind.”
Judge Chettle spoke of how Norman’s mother said in a reference to the court that her son “told me he hates himself for not stopping”.
“The further away he drove, the harder it was to stop,” she said.
Judge Chettle also said Norman had binge-drank alcohol and used cannabis since the age of 16, and had used methamphetamines until this year.
He said Norman was undergoing alcohol and drug counselling, and would need to continue to do so.
He also referred to Caleb’s “contribution” to the crash by running across the road and said this reduced Norman’s moral culpability to make this a “lower mid-level example of dangerous driving”.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Chettle said the terms of imprisonment were “not in any way a reflection of the value of Caleb’s life”.
“No sentencing could ever do that,” he said.
Norman was sentenced to a total of four years and one month in prison, with a non-parole period of two years and nine months.
He has also been disqualified from driving.