Peter Andrew Scott blames drug-taking and poor driving record on being ‘young and dumb’ in fatal car crash hearing

PETER Andrew Scott, who killed a friend in a car crash while high on methamphetamine, has dismissed his drug-taking and 10-year poor driving record as just being “young and dumb”.

Peter Andrew Scott leaving the Adelaide Magistrates Court at an earlier court appearance. Picture: Greg Higgs

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PETER Andrew Scott, who killed a friend in a car crash while high on methamphetamine, has dismissed his drug-taking and 10-year poor driving record as just being “young and dumb”.

The 28-year-old is contesting the Director of Public Prosecution case that he was driving at speeds of up to 162km/h along the Northern Expressway about nine minutes before the fatal smash at Waterloo Corner.

He told the court that it was his friend, Alex Taylor-Siciliano, 20, who was driving along the Expressway before they swapped drivers on Heaslip Rd.

About 5km down the road, Scott crashed head-on into another car, killing Mr Taylor-Siciliano, about 6.22am on September 29, 2015.

He told the court he had been consuming meth and working on his car before picking up Mr Taylor-Siciliano about 3am to help two friends who had broken down near Willaston.

Scott said when the Jeep was spotted on the Expressway at 5.32am — on the way to help his friends — it was Mr Taylor-Siciliano who was driving.

At 6.09am, the Jeep was again spotted on the Expressway, this time being driven erratically and at speed.

Alex Taylor-Siciliano, 20, was killed in a crash at Waterloo Corner in September 2015. Picture: Facebook

“I wanted to sleep and I woke up as my head banged on the window,” Scott told the court.

“I asked him (Mr Taylor-Siciliano) if he was OK to drive and he said he was. I was in and out of sleep.

“I got woken up again because of his swerving — I told him I would drive.”

But prosecutor Caite Deane asked Scott if he was lying about falling asleep in the car because it would have been during the “peak” intoxication of methamphetamine.

Scott replied, “OK”.

Ms Deane asked Scott about how methamphetamine would normally affect him — a question he struggled to answer.

He told the court he was “messed up with the wrong people”.

“I was mixing with people I shouldn’t have been mixing with,” he said.

Ms Deane asked him: “And why was that?

He relied, ‘young and dumb’.

“So you’re saying it’s because of other people that you’re taking methamphetamine,” Ms Deane asked.

Scott — who would consume up to 3.5g of meth a day — replied: “No, I take responsibility — no one made me take it.”

Ms Deane told Scott he had a “very poor driving history” which started when he was 17 years old.

He replied: “Young and dumb”.

“You’ve been dealt with many times for excessive speed, haven’t you?,” Ms Deane asked.

He replied, ‘I believe so. I’ve had a few expiation notices for speeding, yes’.

Ms Deane said: “And your explanation for that very poor driving is simply that you’re young and dumb”.

Judge Paul Muscat asked Scott if he asked a woman at the accident scene to take some drugs away for him.

Scott replied: “No.”

Alex Taylor-Siciliano’s mother told the court she will live with her grief for the rest of her life. Pictutre: Facebook

“You didn’t tell her to get you out of that accident scene?,” Judge Muscat asked.

Again, he replied, ‘no, I asked her to take two ice pipes — one was Alex’s, one was mine. It was a bit stupid, I understand that, I take responsibility, I shouldn’t have done it.”

Last month, Mr Taylor-Siciliano’s mother, Toni Taylor fought back tears as she told the court that her suffering would never end.

“I will grieve for a lifetime. Period. The end,” she said.

“There is no moving on or getting over it, there is no solution to my heartache, no exit for my pain, no going back in time.

“I wish people would understand that grief lasts forever because love lasts forever. The loss of a child is not one tragic event, it is a continuous loss that unfolds minute-by-minute over the course of a lifetime.”

The case will resume in January where two witnesses from the crash scene are likely to give evidence.