Lochlan John Morris sentenced over dangerous operation causing GBH

A young driver has narrowly avoided spending time in jail after a letter from one of his crash victims helped convince the court to show leniency.

A young man’s decision to drive drunk and dangerously on the way back from a cigarette run could have landed him in jail were it not for a note from his injured friend.

Lochlan John Morris, 21, faced Bundaberg District Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing grievous bodily harm while grossly affected by an intoxicating substance.

The court heard Morris was a P-plater at the time of the incident, and had been celebrating a friend’s 18th birthday party at Agnes Water on May 18, 2021, when he got in his car with three passengers and headed off to buy cigarettes.

Morris had started to purposely drive from side-to-side and ignored his passengers’ repeated calls to slow down when he lost control around a corner and crashed the car.

He then got out of the vehicle, helped the passengers get out and flagged down passing vehicles for help.

The court heard one man suffered a fractured dislocation of the pelvis, pelvic haemorrhage, two fractures of the spine, three fractures of the ribs, pulmonary contusions, multiple superficial cuts and pain.

He had to have surgery on his pelvis, including the placement of two screws, and underwent a period of occupational and physical therapy.

A second man in the vehicle suffered bruises to his body and his right lung and an acute and displaced fracture of his collarbone which was treated with pain medication.

Morris suffered minor injuries.

Crown Prosecutor Carla Ahern said Morris had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.133 per cent – or nearly three times the legal limit expected of an open licence holder.

“He drove knowing he had consumed a large amount of alcohol,” she said.

It was heard that Morris had been drinking from around 3pm, while the crash happened around 10pm.

As a P-plater, he was not allowed to consume any alcohol at all before driving.

Two of the men in the crashed car had to be airlifted to Bundaberg Hospital for treatment, while the main complainant was taken to Brisbane for surgery.

Morris had made admissions to police at the time of the incident, and agreed he wasn’t paying attention but denied driving dangerously at the time.

The court heard Morris, who formerly lived in Bundaberg and worked for years at Bargara’s Sandhills Sports Club, was now living in Rockhampton where he was born and employed in the automotive industry.

References were handed to the court from his employers past and present, as well as family members and a plea from his most seriously injured passenger, who refused to issue a statement, saying Morris remained a close friend and was a “genuine person”.

Judge Ken Barlow said Morris’s driving was seriously and obviously dangerous.

He said the passengers, who Morris placed at risk of serious injury or death, still wished him the best.

“The vast majority of these cases, as far as I can tell, from both experience and reading cases, involve people of similar character who’ve made an error of judgment, with or without the involvement of alcohol or drugs, very good citizens, good jobs, good family, and yet Parliament’s seen fit to say that imprisonment is not a last resort,” he said.

“That’s the problem I have and I’m finding a very difficult decision to make.

“I accept that this was an error of judgment on your part, but an error of judgment with severe consequences for your friends, who were in the car with you, as well as you.”

The court heard Morris had a minor traffic history, no criminal history, a good work background, had suffered a hard life with the death of his mother when he was 13 and there was no evidence he had been speeding on the 80km road at the time of the offence.

He had stopped drinking alcohol since the crash.

Ultimately, Judge Barlow ruled that a term of actual jail time could interrupt the defendant’s efforts at rehabilitation and that the letter from Morris’s injured friend was “not binding, but a reflection of the generosity of spirit and belief in (Morris) as a person”.

“I’m persuaded to that end, particularly, by the reference from your friend the complainant, he doesn’t want to see you punished, it seems to me,” he said.

Morris was sentenced to two years’ jail, wholly suspended for three years.

His licence was disqualified for two years.