An appeal to increase the prison sentence of Christopher Dillon Joannidis, the driver responsible for a crash that killed five people in northern Victoria, has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
Joannidis, 32, was sentenced last year to a maximum of five years’ jail, with a non-parole period of three years, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death.
The 2023 crash occurred when Joannidis drove through the intersection of the Murray Valley Highway and Labuan Road, ignoring several road signs and colliding with a ute, which was then pushed into the path of a milk tanker.
The collision killed Debbie Markey, 62, and four overseas workers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, Pin-Yu Wang, Hsin-Yu Chen, Wai-Yan Lam and Zih-Yao Chen.
The Office of Public Prosecutions argued the original sentence was “manifestly unjust” and sought a longer jail term. However, appeal judges Stephen McLeish, Christopher Boyce and Terence Forrest found the sentence was open to the original judge, citing both Joannidis’ “dangerously inattentive” driving and significant mitigating factors.
The court noted Joannidis had been verbally warned by police about the dangers of the intersection just minutes before the crash, but also found flaws in the road’s design contributed to the collision and reduced his moral culpability.
“Where faults in road or road safety design contribute to a collision, and therefore to the death of the victim of dangerous driving, this may compel a significant reduction in moral culpability,” the judgment stated.
Outside court, Debbie Markey’s son Daniel Montero said “justice was not served.”
“[It] really has taken a massive impact on my life and my family’s, and today was just not the outcome that we wanted,” he said.
Calling the decision “absolutely insane”, Mr Montero added: “This guy killed five people, and it doesn’t matter how you spin it, that’s what he did.”
Despite his disappointment, he said he would try to move forward. “I just need to try and move on with my life and try and keep myself with my head held high because that’s what my mum would want,” he said.
Source: ABC.
