Truck driver Peter Ferris, 48, jailed over fatal Bellbrae crash

Chilling text messages sent by a truck driver in the days before he killed a woman in a horror Bellbrae crash reveal he was knowingly driving fatigued and “almost predicted” the tragedy.

Peter Ferris pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death and negligently causing serious injury in relation to a crash at Bellbrae in 2022. Picture: Supplied.

A truck driver who was sleep-deprived and high on ice when he took the life of a beloved Bellbrae mother has been jailed.

Peter Ferris, 48, appeared in the County Court at Geelong on Wednesday, having earlier pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death and negligently causing serious injury.

The charges stemmed from a crash at the intersection of Anglesea and Moores roads on May 11, 2022, that killed 65-year-old Bellbrae woman Dianne McQuinn and put her close friend in hospital with life-threatening injuries. The two women were just minutes from home.

The truck driver was jailed for a maximum of eleven years and eight months but will be eligible for parole after eight years and four months.

Ferris, returning from a job in Lorne, “failed to see, stop or avoid” a Hyundai in front of him when it stopped to turn right into Moores Rd.

Ferris made no attempt to swerve or apply the brakes, and the truck he was driving collided with the back of the car, propelling it into the path of ute travelling the opposite direction.

Mrs McQuinn, a passenger in the Hyundai, was killed instantly while her close friend in the driver’s seat was seriously injured and, two years later, still suffered lingering vision and balance issues.

Ferris had a “significant” amount of ice in his system, as well as a small amount of amphetamine.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Gerard Mullaly described the incident as “completely avoidable”, describing Ferris’ driving was “grossly below the standard expected” and he had taken “the life of a much loved, vibrant woman with so much more life to live”.

Judge Mullaly said his moral culpability was high given he knew how sleep-deprived he was.

Text exchanges found on Ferris’ phone references to the sourcing of drugs as well as complaints of being tired, and suffering from blurred or double vision driving.

On the day of the crash, Ferris told an associate he would have “a power nap” before he got to Lorne, but instead he smoked ice.

The messages were “haunting” Judge Mullaly said, and exposed Ferris’ “criminality and reckless disregard”.

“You were almost predicting the utter tragedy that unfolded,” Judge Mullaly told Ferris.

He told Ferris truck drivers in particular faced stern punishment and years behind bars if they killed someone driving fatigued, drug-affected, “or worse – both”.

Several victim impact statements were presented to the court, including one written by Mrs McQuinn’s husband, in which he outlined his ongoing heartbreak at the loss of his wife.

The couple were on the verge of a new phase of their lives – being together in retirement and travelling – but those plans were gone in an instant.

The driver of the ute that collided with the Hyundai described being “thrown into a world of darkness” and the lifelong guilt and trauma he feels that “will never heal”.

Several factors were put forward in mitigation on Ferris’ behalf, however, Judge Mullaly said none were particularly compelling.

Ferris has Jacob’s Syndrome, a rare genetic abnormality and struggled both at school and holding down a job.

The court also heard Ferris was genuinely remorseful, had a drug addiction and depression.

Ferris had 873 days spent in custody reckoned as time served.

Originally published as Truck driver Peter Ferris, 48, jailed over fatal Bellbrae crash