Court to rule whether Peter Andrew Scott swap seats with friend before crash at Waterloo Corner

A DISTRICT Court judge has questioned why a man who pleaded guilty to killing his best friend in a car crash would lie about who was driving the car minutes before the fatal impact.

• 2015: Driver asked witness to remove drugs from his car, court told
• 2016: Scott denies dangerous driving caused crash
• November 2017: Victim’s family make heartbreaking statement
• December 2017: Scott dismisses behaviour as ‘young and dumb’

A DISTRICT Court judge has questioned why a man who pleaded guilty to killing his best friend in a car crash would lie about who was driving the car minutes before the fatal impact.

Peter Andrew Scott, 28, has pleaded guilty to causing the death of friend Alex Taylor-Siciliano, 20, by dangerous driving in a crash at Waterloo Corner in September 2015.

But he is contesting the Director of Public Prosecution’s claims that he was driving at speeds of up to 162km/h along the Northern Expressway about nine minutes before the fatal smash.

Scott previously told the District Court that he swapped seats with Mr Taylor-Siciliano on Heaslip Rd, after the black Jeep was reportedly seen speeding on the Northern Expressway.

Scott crashed head-on into a silver Ford Falcon, killing Mr Tayler-Siciliano and seriously injuring 59-year-old motorist Gary Hall, as a result of attempting to overtake another vehicle on the Northern Expressway, about 5km from Heaslip Rd.

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

But Scott’s lawyer Adam Gaite said his client “doesn’t have memory of overtaking the vehicle” and the fact he didn’t remember was “inexplicable”.

He said Scott had “nodded off” or was “unconscious” seconds before the impact.

Scott, who has a 10-year poor driving history and was under the influence of methamphetamines at the time of the crash, has accepted that he was driving in a manner dangerous to the public.

But District Court Judge Paul Muscat has yet to rule whether Scott and Mr Taylor-Siciliano had swapped driving at Heaslip Rd.

“He had taken over driving the Jeep and immediately he was driving in the same dangerous way to Mr Siciliano – high speed and tailgating,” he said.

“No doubt that he (the defendant) is upset and sorry that he’s killed his best friend but if I find he was driving on the Northern Expressway with total disregard for his best friend and he lied about his good friend driving earlier ...”

Mr Gaite asked: “And why would he do that?”

Judge Muscat replied: “He’s attempting to minimise his bad driving.”

“If I were to make the factual finding that he (Scott) lied in court to put his best friend Mr Siciliano as the dangerous driver on Northern Expressway when he was not, Mr Siciliano isn’t here to defend his claim.”

Peter Andrew Scott has a 10-year poor driving history and was high on methamphetamine at the time of the crash. Picture: Greg Higgs

The victim’s mother Toni Taylor previously told the court 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.”

Scott faces aggravated counts of causing death and causing harm by dangerous driving.

The defence counsel further submitted to court that Scott was “remorseful” about the crash that killed his mate. Scott broke down several times in court when facing his family.

He was remanded in custody to face further sentencing submissions next month.