Alexander Thomas Wooldridge to spend at least two years in jail over crash that killed four members of one family at Hatherleigh, in SA’s South-East
TEN seconds of inattention was all it took for this man to kill four members of the same family in a crash in the state’s South East. But the sentence he received left the victims’ surviving relatives shattered.
A “PILLAR” of the South-East community will serve at least two years behind bars after his inattentive driving caused the death of four members of the same family.
Alexander Thomas Wooldridge pleaded guilty to four counts of causing death by culpably negligent driving and one count of causing serious harm by culpably negligent driving over the crash at Hatherleigh, in the South Australia’s South-East, on December 1 last year.
Joshua Doyle, 22, his sister Jessica Doyle, 16, mother Michelle Doyle, 45, who were all from Mt Gambier, as well as grandmother Bev Khan, 68, from Victoria, were killed in the crash on the Princes Highway, about 15km north of Millicent.
Wooldridge, 65, of Mount Schank, took his eyes off the road for about 10 seconds before he drove through a T-junction, hitting an empty truck trailer, which then collided with the four-wheel drive containing members of the Doyle family and survivor Bradley Kelly.
Footage released by the judge, shown in the video above, was taken from Wooldridge’s dash camera and shows the moments before the crash as his car runs into the truck. It does not show the truck’s subsequent collision with the Doyle family’s car.
After Wooldridge was led to prison, Mrs Khan’s widow Charles said he hoped prosecutors would appeal against the sentence for a longer prison term.
“I think we’ve got a chance on appeal and that’s what we are going to look at as a family,” he said.
“It wasn’t an accident, it was a careless collision that caused the death of four people and caused serious injuries to another kid.”
Mr Khan said he did not believe the sentence was harsh enough.
“I would have liked him to get seven years … I think he got off very, very lightly,” he said.
“I just hope that he suffers as much as we have … perhaps two years locked away might make him think more about it.”
In sentencing this morning, District Court Judge Barry Beazley said he had never heard such profound grief from the family and friends of crash victims.
Judge Beazley said there was no doubt Wooldridge could not have foreseen the terrible consequences of his lapse in concentration.
“You are not a murderer, you did not commit manslaughter and you did not intend to cause such a catastrophic event,” he said.
“You are someone who is a pillar of your community.
“Your life, particularly within the CFS, has been devoted to serving the community and others.”
Judge Beazley said Wooldridge had fully co-operated with police and told them he had not seen the approaching T-junction on the unfamiliar road.
“You should have seen it, you didn’t see it. You didn’t see it because you chose to check your GPS because you were not familiar with the road,” he said.
“It was grossly negligent for you to take your eyes off the unfamiliar road for such a long time.”
Wooldridge had told a psychologist that he believed it would have been better if he had died in the crash.
“I have no doubt that the loss of these lives and injury to the surviving passenger will haunt you for the rest of your life,” Judge Beazley said.
“You have devoted much of your life to the community as a player, coach and administrator of hockey in the local community.”
Judge Beazley said he was faced with balancing Wooldridge’s prior clean record and early guilty plea with the devastating loss of four lives.
“I cannot do justice to the loss, pain and obvious anger of the family and friends of the victims,” he said.
Judge Beazley said Wooldridge’s personal circumstances would otherwise have made him a good candidate for a suspended prison term.
“I have come to the conclusion after much consideration that your offending and consequences are just too serious to suspend the sentence,” he said.
Judge Beazley imposed a head sentence of four years of two months — down from seven years because of Wooldridge’s guilty plea and remorse.
Wooldridge was taken into custody to begin serving his two year non-parole period, which starts today.