Dhirren Singh Randhawa pleads guilty to killing Charlie Stevens by careless, not dangerous, driving

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens fought back tears, clutching an apology letter from his son’s killer after the young driver pleaded to a lesser charge for the Schoolies tragedy.

The young driver who ran down Charlie Stevens has pleaded guilty to killing him by careless, rather than dangerous, driving – but may still go to jail because he fled the scene of the impact.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Dhirren Singh Randhawa pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of driving without due care.

The circumstance of aggravation is that Charlie – son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens – died as a result of his carelessness behind the wheel.

Randhawa’s guilty plea to that charge, and also to having left the scene of a crash after causing death, were accepted by prosecutors after months of out-of-court negotiations.

The Advertiser understands long-delayed reports about the night of the collision, including crash reconstruction and toxicology analysis, were highly relevant to those negotiations.

Commissioner Stevens and his family were present, in the court’s public gallery, for the hearing and for the entering of Randhawa’s pleas.

Outside court, he became visibly emotional while holding an envelope, which he revealed was a letter of apology from Randhawa.

“This is one step in the process, there are a few more steps to go so I think it would be appropriate for us to say more at a later point in time,” he said.

“I think on behalf of our family we would just like to acknowledge that Dhirren has taken responsibility for his actions that saw us lose our son Charlie.

“We have also been handed a letter of apology so we will take time to read that.”

Dhirren Singh Randhawa outside of court. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Charlie’s dad, Police commissioner Grant Stevens, arriving with wife Emma at the Adelaide Magistrates Court. Picture: NewsWire / Roy VanDerVegt

Under state law, Randhawa now faces a maximum 12-month prison term and minimum six-month licence disqualification for the careless driving offence.

That represents a 93 per cent reduction in penalty from causing death by dangerous driving, which carries a maximum 15-year sentence and 10-year driving ban.

However, Randhawa will be sentenced in the District Court rather than Magistrates Court, and still faces the prosect of serving his sentence in custody.

That is because the penalty for leaving an accident scene after causing death is a five-year prison term – placing it beyond the jurisdiction of the lower court.

Charlie Stevens. Picture: Supplied

Following the crash on Beach Rd, Goolwa, last year, Randhawa, 18, of Encounter Bay, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

He was further charged with the lesser, alternative offence of aggravated driving without due care, leaving the scene of a crash after causing death and failing to truly answer questions.

Previously, the court heard there were conflicting witness accounts of the incident and imposed bans on him contacting all but one of those people.

Amid the delayed expert reports, prosecutors confirmed they would be pursuing the charges as laid while defence counsel told the court negotiations had begun.

In court on Tuesday, Director of Puplic Prosecutions Martin Hinton KC said Randhawa’s two pleas would be accepted in full satisfaction of the charges.

Asked for his pleas to each count, Randhawa replied “guilty, Your Honour”.

Mr Hinton then formally withdrew the charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

Randhawa was remanded on continuing bail to face the District Court in August, when a date for sentencing submissions will be set.