Sophia Naismith death: Closing addresses in the trial of Lambo driver Alexander Campbell

Sophia Naismith was tragically killed when a Lamborghini left the road. This week, her family and friends have sat through the trial of the man behind the wheel.

Wearing red ribbons over their hearts, family and friends of Sophia Naismith have walked into the District Court each day this week.

They have sat through the tragic final moments of the 15-year-old’s life, and have listened intently to technical evidence in relation to the tragedy.

At the heart of the case has been whether Alexander Campbell, 37, the father behind the wheel of a $330k Lamborghini had been driving dangerously when he hit and killed Sophia and seriously injured her best friend Jordyn Callea on a footpath at Glengowrie in June 2019.

The question has become bogged down in the legal definitions and reasoning of both the prosecution and defence.

Mr Campbell, from Elizabeth North, has pleaded to driving without due care, the offence aggravated by Sophia’s death.

By that plea Mr Campbell has acknowledged that he drove carelessly.

But District Court Judge Paul Muscat has been asked to find whether Mr Campbell was driving dangerously under the law.

Did Mr Campbell make a decision that no rational person would make while driving with the consequence that it endangered the lives of other motorists and, crucially, two teenage girls walking along the street?

Lamborghini driver Alexander Campbell outside court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Sophia Naismith, 15, died in the crash. Picture: Instagram

THE DEFENCE

Craig Caldicott, for Mr Campbell, biding his time until his closing statement, argued his client’s conduct on June 21, 2019, did not rise to the level of dangerous driving.

“Harsh acceleration has not been proven,” he said. “At the end of the day if your honour can’t be satisfied there was heavy acceleration you must acquit, because it hasn’t been proved.”

The prosecution case during the week-long trial has been narrow – if Mr Campbell “aggressively” accelerated, causing him to lose control and leave the road, then he should be found guilty.

However, Mr Caldicott argued that the worn state of the tyres, paired with a sudden gear change, caused the car to slide while travelling at 54km/h.

“This was a tragic case, but I would urge Your Honour not to find that it was dangerous driving,” Mr Caldicott said.

Complicating the submissions for Mr Caldicott was evidence that Mr Campbell had his car serviced four days before the crash and had been advised his rear tyres needed replacing. He twice passed up offers from the mechanic to order a new set of tyres from Sydney.

During an interview with police shortly after the crash (and played in court) Mr Campbell said he often drove the high powered car in sports mode with traction control turned off.

He said on the night of the crash he had been in sports mode.

AN OFFENSIVE PROPOSITION

Closing the prosecution case, Kos Lesses said the evidence before the court clearly pointed to Mr Campbell accelerating sharply, leading to him losing control.

“It is the combination of the objective elements and evidence, as well as the things he knew – that makes up dangerous driving beyond reasonable doubt,” he told the court.

“His driving posed an unacceptable risk of harm to another motorist, or in this case two innocent pedestrians, and no responsible driver with that knowledge would do the same thing.”

Mr Lesses pointed to Mr Campbell’s interview with police after the crash, during which he said he knew the car was prone to spinning out in cold conditions.

Five eyewitnesses saw Mr Campbell lose control of the car earlier that evening and “fishtail” across a northern suburbs intersection.

Mr Campbell had owned the car for several months and had a history of owning high powered, luxury cars.

“With that knowledge and prior driving experience he was still foolish enough to put his foot down on this cold November night knowing the car could lose control,” Mr Lesses said.

“Whichever way you look at it, this collision was not merely an unfortunate or unpredictable accident.

“On the evidence presented in the trial, I respectfully submit that is an offensive proposition.

“Nor was it an instance of the accused driving without due care. I make this rhetorical argument: how many cases has your honour seen in your long legal career of driving without due care that ended with a car in the front of a building 15m from the side of the road?”

The Lamborghini hit two young girls, killing one of them, before crashing into the House Of Tien restaurant. Picture: Supplied

THE CRASH

The night of the crash was cold, barely 6C, and Mr Campbell, his pregnant partner, had been at a car show in Marion.

They were driving back from the event on Morphett Rd, Glengowrie, travelling along next to a friend who had also been at the event when Mr Campbell lost control. It was an agreed fact at trial that Mr Campbell had not been speeding when he came off the road.

His speed was measured at around 53km/h and it was only the power of the car in comparison to its weight which carried it 15m from the road into the front of a Chinese restaurant.

Mr Caldicott contended that Mr Campbell had applied “moderate” acceleration to Lamborghini, which can go from zero to 100km/h in 3.4 seconds. Eyewitnesses to the crash said they heard loud revving from both the Lamborghini and the high-powered car of his companion in the adjoining lane.

“They have equated loud noise with excessive speed,” Mr Caldicott said.

“We are entitled to use moderate acceleration to get to the speed limit – that is not against the law.”

Mr Lesses said the evidence of the eyewitnesses clearly showed the rapid acceleration.

He placed less weight, dismissing altogether in parts, the controversial evidence of Adam Gabriell and Joel Armstrong. The two men were associates of Mr Campbell.

In Mr Armstrong’s case he was a former business partner and close friend of Mr Campbell, even walking out of court with him after his evidence.

Both men claimed, at times to audible disgust from Sophia’s friends and family, and contradicting the eyewitnesses, that Mr Campbell had been driving “lawfully and respectfully” before the accident.

Judge Muscat will hand down his verdict at a date yet to be set.