Killer driver Trevor Francis Stewart avoids immediate jail term for killing Don and Senny McInnes

A man who drove “substantially” on the wrong side of the road, killing a beloved South East couple, has avoided an immediate jail term.

A man who cut a corner to drive “substantially” on the wrong side of the road, crashing into and killing beloved South East couple Don and Senny McInnes, has avoided an immediate jail term.

Trevor Francis Stewart, 38, of Gilberton was travelling his regular courier run when he caused the horrific smash on an S-bend at Stewart Range, near Naracoorte, on March 12, 2019.

In sentencing on Thursday, District Court Judge Geraldine Davison said Stewart “must have seen” the couple prior to the crash, because both cars had swerved to try to avoid a collision.

After the crash, she said Stewart had described the bend as “really sharp” and “quite a bad corner”.

“You were … on the wrong side of the road driving at 110km/h in an area with which you were familiar, and you knew that this S-bend was particularly tight,” she said.

“The fact that you were familiar with this road makes this driving all the more serious in the circumstances.

“The outcome of your flouting of the law was the death of two innocent road users.”

Trevor Stewart leaves the District Court after receiving a suspended sentence for killing South East couple Don and Senny McInnes in a road crash. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Brenton Edwards

In July, Stewart pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of Mr and McInnes, aged 60 and 49, by dangerous driving in March 2019.

Judge Davison said Stewart must have had “more than a momentary lapse in attention” prior to the crash, and was “substantially on the wrong side of a country road while travelling at 110km/h”.

Judge Davison said the loss of the couple, who were the owners of the Old Wool Store restaurant in Kingston SE, had a significant impact on a number of people.

At a previous hearing, one of the couple’s sons, Andrew McInnes, said the loss of his hardworking parents “in the blink of an eye is difficult to comprehend”.

He said he wanted to understand why the crash had occurred, but Nick Healy, for Stewart, had said his client could not explain what happened because he had no memory of the crash.

Don and Senny McInnes were killed in the crash. Picture: Dean Martin

Stewart was not drunk, on drugs nor speeding and told police he slept for seven hours the night before. He had told police he was not on his mobile phone at the time of the crash.

On Thursday, Judge Davison said the court process rarely offered comfort to those left behind.

“The loss of life in these circumstances is always tragic,” she said.

“The role of the court in these circumstances is not meant to measure the value of human life, nor punish a life for a life.”

She said Stewart had not offended prior to the 2019 crash but had a subsequent crash while towing a caravan on the SE Freeway in December 2020. At the time, he had methylamphetamine in his blood.

Judge Davison said Stewart had told a psychologist he felt “angry and annoyed” for “taking two innocent people’s lives”.

“You said not a day goes by that you do not think about those poor people and wish it was you that died instead.”

Judge Davison said she would have imposed a prison term of four years, with a non-parole period of almost three years and three months. But she suspended that term in favour of a three-year good behaviour bond and 200 hours of community service. Stewart was banned from driving for 12 years.