Fatal Bute accident driver Adrian O'Daniel handed two-year suspended sentence
A YOUNG driver whose momentary inattention killed two people and destroyed dozens of lives has been banned from the roads for eighteen months.
A YOUNG driver whose momentary inattention killed two people and destroyed dozens of lives has been banned from the roads for eighteen months.
The family of Troy and Shanae Lyall was reduced to tears by the decision of the Adelaide Magistrate court this morning.
They reacted with shock and grief as Adrian O'Daniel received a seven month sentence for aggravated driving without due care, suspended on condition of a two-year, $500 good behavior bond.
While driving on a road outside Bute, O'Daniel failed to pay proper attention and caused a crash that killed the Lyall siblings.
It also injured O'Daniel and the cars other passengers.
Troy and Shanae's parents, Lee and Lynette, held one another and wept as the penalty was announced.
O'Daniel, 22, of Wallaroo, was originally charged with causing the deaths of Troy, 20, and Shanae, 16, by dangerous driving after the crash, near Bute, in October 2011.
In December he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of one aggravated count of driving without due care and attention.
That offence carries a maximum jail term of 12 months, and a licence disqualification of no less than six months.
In sentencing today, Magistrate Jayanthi McGrath said that, based on the evidence, O'Daniel had been neither drunk nor speeding at the time.
His crime, she said, was "four to five seconds of inattention" in which the car ran off the road and he over-corrected its steering.
"You should have been more vigilant... as a driver, you must be vigilant (because) four to five seconds can result in fatal consequences," she said.
"Two deaths and serious harm have been caused... two young, happy, loving and loved siblings have lost their lives and their family has been left devastated and ruined."
Addressing the public gallery as well as O'Daniel, she said she hoped the sentencing would help all involved begin to heal.
"For the Lyall family, the penalty can never reflect the true loss, injury and impact suffered, and their ongoing grief and pain," she said.
"The loss of both children is simply a heartbreak (that is) unimaginable.
"For you, O'Daniel, (the penalty) will not match the burden you will carry with you for the rest of your life."
She gave O'Daniel a 30 per cent discount on his sentence because of his genuine remorse and early guilty plea.
Outside court, Lynette Lyall said the sentence was disappointing.
"Adrian O'Daniel now gets to go home to his family and friends and plan his future," she said.
"Our children are never coming home."
Lee Lyall said their court experience had been "terrible".
"It's like our kids were each worth nine months (licence disqualification) and a slap on the wrist," he said.
"If you're driving, don't be a dickhead on the road.
"And if you stuff up, have the balls to front up and admit what you've done wrong... clearly that's not happened here."