Fatalities guilty verdict

Press, 20 August 1981, Page 16

Fatalities guilty verdict

,'i.A motorist.:; who said' ■in evidence , that ■■ swerwed to avoid anTaccident but /that a\.worse.;wejirek'sulted, and who deified ;; in ■’Cross-examination had played “chicken" with an - approaching £ .motor-cyclist, - was found guilty by'a. jury in.'. We District Court yesterday 'of two fatal driving offences. ' ;. The defendant was, Gary McQuillan, -aged’ 27/ a' painter.; ~ ” : - He /had /elected-Trial by : jury, and 'denied two charges of. causing . the deaths of Grant 'Findlay Perry, aged; 51, and Teressa Joan Ayers, aged 16, by driving Tin a dangers manner on the Main South Road, Hornby, late on the evening of November 29. The jury took 32 minutes .to reach; its, verdict. ’ T Judge Pain remanded him in custody to August,,26 for sentence. . .. - : //<• -■

Mr P. G. S.’ Penlignton, Q.C., with Mr A. M, Mclntosh,. appeared for the Crown, _■ and Mr P. M. James \ represented the defendant. ; / The: three-day: trial- was completed yesterday with defence evidence, and with final addresses by both counsel. • • ' ■’ •

Prosecution evidence during the first two days ..was that the defendant’s car swerved on to its-wrong side of the road, soon after one of

- a group of seven approaching motor-cyclists :had overtaken others in the group to reach the. lead. <5- ,-' . ■ - The defendant’s car then struck, one of the /following motor-cycles.' fatally .injuring the rider and' pillion passen- - .geri,- /•' ■'/■,.• : t- ' \ Mr . James, .opening - .the ‘ ; defence ; case,; said ? the de-. ' fendant : had faced the. “dilveirima” of an "agony-of-the-' moment-decision” he had to; make - : when confronted by a ' motorcycle / approaching him. ' ■.• < The two vehicles were, closing rapidly. In the crisis that he faced, of an approaching vehicle and/a mass of lights, he made a reasonable decision in the - circumstances in : trying to; avoid a collision. Mr James said the defendant admitted that he crossed ■ to his; wrong side of. the road,

but it was-, the. minimum amount - necessary, taking into account the emergency confronting him. 1 Mr James submitted that nothing in the defendant’s driving could be construed as dangerous; nor was his driving the cause or substantial cause of the accident. He blamed the accident on the requirement for evasive action made necessary by the action of the overtaking or motor-cyclist, Shane

Toonen, and/or other motor- , cyclists, in ,the group. ■ - The? defendant: gave evidence of - returning towards the city after/driving to the Golden “Mile/at Islington. ‘ .After turning a bend in the, main highway he was- a number,<of headlights of motor-cyclists,■'still s quite a. few hundred metres away. . .'. He was travelling; about. 40 miles an hour and noticed that; bn headlight- kept- approaching him on his side of the road, and did not return to its correct side. The defendant said the motor-cycle came straight at his car, and was virtually on top of him. He had only a fraction of a second to react, and swerved to the right, having seen a gap and trying to go around the motor- ' cyclist. ■ • '• 1 He did not brake because he had expected an overtaking vehicle to return to its correct side in the face of ah oncoming vehicle. The defendant said the accident was quite unavoidable. He had asked himself since why he had not swung to the left, but in the hundredth of a second he had to react he saw a gap and swerved to the right. He tried to avoid one accident, and another occurred. The defendant said that at the. accident scene he asked

a resident to Call the; police and ambulance. -He was im: ivfted. into a house and was • washing blood s from, his face, caused by' his.'striking his rear-vision mirror, 4 when two persons ; from, the motorcycle group arrived. •

He was; asked'this name ■■ and was (bld he, had murdered two of their mates, and that if he went outside he was “a dead man.” /.-/ . V They were told to. leave because of the comments they made, the . defendant said. He said that until then he had been prepared to sit it but until- the police arrived. ‘

However, he panicked a bit and asked, where the back door was, and told the owner he would find his own way to the police in town.

He had left on foot and then taken a taxi, and drank several 12z beers at a hotel. He telephoned the police from the hotel and later walked to the police' station.

In cross-examination the defendant was asked why he had turned towards oncoming traffic to avoid one motor-cycle when he could have gone to the left where there was no traffic. He said it was because, he was a gap and swung around to avoid the motor-cyclist.