Daughters of Tom Spiess give victim impact statements in prosecution of Cleanaway over horror fatal 2014 SE Freeway crash
More than a decade on, the family of a South Eastern Freeway truck crash victim has had their say – after being blacked out by the vehicle’s owners.
Tom Spiess died at the bottom of the South Eastern Freeway more than 11 years ago, killed by an 8000L Cleanaway truck speeding out-of-control at 151km/h.
On Wednesday, his daughters finally got to give their victim impact statements in the Supreme Court – but only after their expressions of grief were censored by the company.
Federal prosecutors told the court that portions of Hannah Pash and Crystal Spiess’ statements had “been redacted by agreement” with Cleanaway before the hearing.
The redactions were so prominent that the blacked-out paragraphs spanned much of each page and were visible, at the bar table, from the public gallery.
Chief Justice Chris Kourakis allowed the redactions, but told counsel that SA had abolished the censorship of victims.
“It’s not really a matter of relevance, it’s a matter of what the victims feels they want to say … it’s part of the process for them,” he said.
“I ask that you bear that in mind for future matters.”
In her statement, read to the court, Ms Pash said her family has waited “too long for justice” and had to “relive the tragedy” every time the case returned to court.
She lived in fear, she said, of large trucks and particularly Cleanaway vehicles, fearing for the safety of her husband and children whenever crashes were reported.
“My dad deserves to rest in peace and we deserve to remember him for the years of beauty he brought to our lives, not the day he was taken away from us,” she said.
Her sister agreed, saying in her statement that the legal process had “deeply affected” the family.
“My grief and sadness has been prolonged and feels never-ending … there seems no way of escaping the justice system,” she said.
The crash, in August 2014, killed Mr Spiess and Jacqui Byrne, and injured Cleanaway truck driver Darren Hicks and motorist Louise Compton.
All criminal charges were dropped following expert evidence that the truck’s brakes had failed, meaning it could not be stopped.
In 2019, Cleanaway was charged with having failed to properly train Mr Hicks prior to the incident – he gave evidence against the company.
Cleanaway was convicted in 2021, filed an appeal that was partially successful, then filed a second appeal which took a court almost three years to adjudicate.
That appeal was dismissed in October and, because the matter was elevated to the Supreme Court, Cleanaway was exposed to a maximum $3 million fine.
On Wednesday, Garry Livermore KC, for Cleanaway, said his client had now filed a High Court appeal.
Cleanaway’s offending was, he argued, at “the lower end of the scale” of seriousness.
“There were systems (of driver safety) in place … but this particular omission was not there, and it was not identified in the risk assessment,” he said.
“We haven’t been able to track down the person who did that risk assessment to ask them why they didn’t identify it.
“No one double-checked it and decided to put it in, no one (else) had it within in the industry.
“It was not part of the national regulations and, when the opportunity arose for legislators (to include it), they did not.”
Cleanaway, he said, should not face “more” of a punishment because it is “bigger” than its competitors, arguing the truck’s faulty breaks meant “even an expert driver” could not have stopped it.
Chief Justice Kourakis said he could not accept that.
“If you are talking liability, that’s trite … I’m talking about the purposes of sentencing, which is to protect the community,” he said.
“If you want to say, in mitigation, there was nothing anyone could have done, you have to lead that evidence and persuade this court on the balance of probabilities.”
He will hand down penalty on a date to be set.
