A man has been cleared of all criminal responsibility for a collision that led to the death of a father in Newbury, near Trentham.
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Hari Krishna Bommareddy, 28, was able to step out of the dock and into the body of the court on Tuesday after a judge directed a jury find him not guilty of culpable driving causing death.
The direction was given on the fourth day of a trial in which the prosecution alleged Bommareddy was fatigued and lost control of the Isuzu truck he was driving on Greendale-Trentham Road.
The prosecution case was Krishna allegedly drifted to the wrong side of the road because he was tired and collided head-on with a Holden commodore sedan driven by 30-year-old John Graeme Wilson.
Wilson was killed instantly. He had a two-year-old son and fiancée at the time.
Judge Mark Dean said he was not satisfied it was open to the jury to find Bommareddy guilty of culpable driving causing death.
He said there was no evidence to establish the burden of proof for two elements of the case. That is Bommareddy was so fatigued that he failed to be in proper control of the motor vehicle and he ought to have known there was a risk of fatigue leading to a collision.
While the death of the deceased is another shocking example of the road trauma we all live with... I am not satisfied it would be open to you to find Mr Bommareddy guilty of the charge.
- Judge Mark Dean
"It is not sufficient to prove he was tired or it was momentary inattention," Judge Dean said.
"Culpable driving is a very serious offence. Generally speaking, it is made out when people are affected by drugs or alcohol and driving in a reckless manner. This is not such a case.
"While the death of the deceased is another shocking example of the road trauma we all live with... I am not satisfied it would be open to you to find Mr Bommareddy guilty of the charge."
Bommareddy was 24-years-old at the time of the collision, living in Grovedale and studying at Deakin University.
He held an international drivers' licence which allowed him to drive in Victoria and was working at the time of the collision delivering bakery goods to businesses, a shift he had started at 5.35am.
Wilson was driving from his home in Fern Hill to his new job as a mechanic in Ballan at the time of the collision at 7.42am on January 4, 2018.
He had left home about 7.30am.
The prosecution case included evidence from witnesses who saw Bommareddy before the collision.
One witness said they saw Bommarreddy veer into his lane while driving in Blackwood at around 100km/h, causing him to move to the left of the lane to, so the left wheels of his car were almost in gravel.
Two Newbury residents were sitting outside their house between 7.30am and 7.45am when they heard a loud car speeding before hearing a loud bang.
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One witness was driving to work when he came across the collision. He saw a white truck on the side of the road and Bommareddy waved him down.
Police attended and the scene was examined.
Detective Senior Constable Macfarlane from the Major Collision Reconstruction Unit found Bommareddy's truck was over the white line and Wilson had taken evasive action before the collision.
The prosecution case relied on Bommareddy's work rosters and his phone records in the days leading up to the collision that show he only had 26 hours in an 80 period where he was not working or using his phone.
Dr Mark Howard concluded sleepiness contributed to the collision and Bommareddy had "very limited opportunity to sleep or nap for eight days prior to the collision".
During a police interview after his arrest, Bommareddy said it was "not possible he was on the wrong side of the road" and that Wilson's car came into his lane.
Bommareddy had consistently contested the charge.
"Car accidents are a common factor of our lives but do not necessarily carry a criminal penalty," Judge Dean said.
"Whatever happened is a great tragedy. These cases always are."
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