Colin Roy Pearce sentenced over fatal crash on Blackall St, Woombye

An elderly Sunshine Coast man “walked through hell” before he died after being struck by a car. The driver has now learnt his fate in court.

Colin Roy Pearce in 2020. Photo: Social Media

A Sunshine Coast man who was struck by a hinterland business owner’s car on a main street detailed his pain and suffering in a victim impact statement before he died in hospital, a court has been told.

Colin Roy Pearce, 60, faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Tuesday, April 2, to be sentenced over the crash on Blackall St, Woombye, on August 25, 2023, which seriously injured an 89-year-old man and caused him to die in hospital.

The court was told Pearce had “cut the corner” of an intersection when turning onto Blackall St, and struck the man after he emerged from bushes next to the road.

Pearce is a co-owner of Brady’s Fruit Shop in Palmwoods.

Police prosecutor Tegan Smith said Pearce did not see the pedestrian, and called the incident a “tragic set of circumstances”.

Ms Smith said a victim impact statement, written by the victim before he died in hospital, detailed his level of pain and suffering after the incident.

She said the statement said the man had an “awful time” in hospital and suffered from extreme pain and night terrors after the incident.

She told the court the man’s pain medication had to be decreased after he started having adverse reactions, but this made his pain worse.

Colin Roy Pearce leaving Maroochydore Court House.

He wrote in the statement that he was having night terrors where he would “die in horrific ways”.

“I have walked through hell,” Ms Smith read from the statement.

A second impact statement, this time from the victim’s wife, described her late husband as a man who was fit and healthy despite his age, but after the incident began wasting away in hospital.

She said in the statement the incident had “changed her entire world” and was “devastating”.

Lawyer Scott Falvey told the court the bushes the man had emerged from before the crash were cut back by the council shortly after the incident.

He said his client was extremely remorseful and had cooperated with police throughout the process.

Mr Falvey told the court there was “no skylarking” or reckless driving involved in the incident, and that it was simply a “tragic accident”.

The court was told Pearce’s business employed multiple people and several references noted Pearce’s contribution to the community.

Pearce pleaded guilty to one charge of driving without due care and attention causing death.

Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist sentenced Pearce to three months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. His licence was disqualified for nine months.

Convictions were recorded.