Tristan James Watson jailed for Mackay fatal crash that killed Brendan Moreland
Traffic controller Brendan Moreland smiled at a co-worker as he packed away road signage. Within minutes that same workmate would be staring down at his twisted, broken body. Now the driver who killed him has been sentenced.
Police & Courts
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It was the end of his shift and Mackay traffic controller Brendan Moreland smiled at a co-worker as he packed away road signage – within minutes that same workmate would be staring down at his twisted, broken body.
Tristan James Watson had been behind the wheel of a stolen Toyota Rav4 when he slammed into 35-year-old Mr Moreland on the Ron Camm Bridge just after 4am on October 26, 2021.
Mackay District Court heard the force of the impact smashed the 4WD’s windscreen and caused Mr Moreland to be tossed about 50m through the air in front of his three workmates.
Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence said his co workers described seeing him “flung as high as the street lights” before hitting the bitumen.
Watson, then 28, didn’t stop – he kept driving.
In fact he even drove back past the horror scene – this time travelling in the opposite direction – while an ambulance was parked at the site.
He didn’t stop then either.
The court heard when police arrested Watson, he had been hiding in the ceiling of a home.
He told officers he had yawned while swerving and thought he just hit road signs.
The reality was something very different – bloodied fibres of Mr Moreland’s clothing had been found lodged in the broken windscreen.
One of Mr Moreland’s co-workers, in a victim impact statement, described the aftermath as an “absolute nightmare”.
“The twisted body, the broken bones, the blood all over the road and the injuries to his lifeless body,” Ms Lawrence told the court.
“It haunts him and he doesn’t feel he can open up because he doesn’t want to put the burden on anyone else.”
FATAL DRIVER OUT ON PAROLE
Watson had been travelling at speeds more than 40kmh higher than the 80kmh limit in the lead up to the tragedy.
He shouldn’t have been driving – in fact he had only been released on parole the month before.
In the Rav4 stolen from someone he knew at the Boomerang Hotel earlier, he ran through a red light and on the Ron Camm Bridge had swerved to avoid hitting a stationary road work vehicle.
It was Mr Moreland’s vehicle that had an illuminated arrow diverting drivers towards the right lane while he picked up roadwork signs just ahead in the left lane.
Watson reduced his speed to 105kmh as he swerved to avoid the vehicle, almost hitting the middle of the bridge – he swerved back to the left, hitting Mr Moreland while travelling about 94kmh.
“You sought to explain your driving by saying that you yawned and swerved around the roadwork car at speed and struck something that you believed was roadwork signs,” Judge Anthony Rafter said, rejecting these claims.
The court heard he told police had used ice that day but it was unknown if it was before or after the fatal crash.
“You deliberately drove in a dangerous manner over (about) 900m, you drove through a red traffic light, you drove at speed in excess of 40kmh above the speed limit,” Judge Rafter said.
‘MUCH LOVED SON, BROTHER’
The impact of Mr Moreland’s loved ones and co workers “is plainly significant” – he had been killed on his mother’s birthday and just weeks before he was due to stand up as best man at his best mate’s wedding.
The 35 year old was described as “a much loved son, brother and grandson” who “helped people in need”.
His parents, in a victim impact statement, wrote that Watson “had shattered their family”.
“He was just doing his job when you struck and killed him,” they wrote.
“You didn’t even have the decency to stop.”
The court heard “their son’s body was so smashed that they … weren’t permitted to see much of him when they went to identify his body”.
“We will never understand why, we will never be the same,” they wrote.
The court heard his co-worker said what he saw that morning haunts him to this day.
“It must be devastating for his family and friends to know that his life has been taken by the criminal conduct of a person who should not have been driving and who was on parole at the time,” Judge Rafter said.
PENALTY FOR TAKING A LIFE
In Watson’s favour was the fact he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Mr Moreland’s death while speeding and leaving the scene of the fatal crash, as well as two other aggravated dangerous driving incidents in Townsville the week before.
Barrister Scott McLennan said his client was remorseful and wanted to write Mr Moreland’s family an apology letter.
“Perhaps you are gaining some insight into … the gravity of what you have done,” Judge Rafter said.
“So far your main concerns have been your own freedom.”
The court heard he’d had a prejudicial upbringing and was exposed to alcoholism, drug use and domestic violence, but Judge Rafter said this did not explain Watson’s conduct that night.
“It was submitted that your driving was not necessarily the sole cause of Brendan’s death, however Brendan was wearing high visibly clothing, there was the arrow …
“If you were taking proper care for other road users this whole tragedy would have been avoided.”
Watson was jailed for 5.5 years, cumulative to a six-year term he is currently serving, with parole eligibility on September 23, 2024. He has already spent 393 days in custody.
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