Truck driver Ben Geoffrey Murdoch, 49, faces court hearing over fatal motorbike crash near Brisbane Airport

A truckie charged with leaving a motorcyclist for dead after a collision has told a court why his dashcam recorded him saying “he came out and hit me” just seconds after the fatal crash he claims he didn’t know about.

Troy Barton a motorcyclist who died after a tragic crash involving a truck near the Brisbane Airport on August 11, 2023. Picture: Facebook

A truckie charged with leaving a motorcyclist for dead after a collision with his prime mover maintains that he didn’t see the victim or realise he had hit him, despite the truck’s dashcam capturing the incident and even picking up an audible “bang” sound.

Taking the stand in his own defence, the driver told the court the “bang” heard in the footage was him knocking his Esky over in his cab, while his expletive-laden rant captured in the few minutes after the incident was not related to that moment, but rather him reflecting on an incident with another truckie two months prior and an argument he had the day before.

Ben Geoffrey Murdoch, 49, was charged following the death of 48-year-old motorcyclist Troy Adam Barton after the two vehicles collided on Viola Place near Brisbane Airport around 5.30am on August 11 last year.

Mr Barton – a Kippa Ring father, Army veteran, and motorcycle enthusiast – died at the scene and the truck involved allegedly fled the scene.

This prompted police to release footage of the vehicle they were searching for within hours and officers found and inspected Mr Murdoch’s white prime mover later that day.

Mr Murdoch was charged 13 days after the crash with two offences – failing to remain at the scene and show proper respect to the deceased, and failing to exhibit respect to the deceased while showing callous disregard.

Truck driver Ben Geoffrey Murdoch, 49, leaves Brisbane Magistrates Court. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

He is not accused of any wrongdoing regarding the collision itself, and although he now concedes that he and his truck wereinvolved in the collision that killed Mr Barton, Mr Murdoch maintains that he was unaware that he had hit anything at the time.

He has pleaded not guilty to both charges in Brisbane Magistrates Court, with the case the subject of several days of hearings in recent months.

The court was shown footage captured by Mr Murdoch’s dashcam mounted in his truck. It showed him turn into Viola Place and drive down, before making a U-turn and coming back up and out of the dead-end. Mr Murdoch explained he accidentally took a wrong turn.

The dashcam footage captures two motorbikes parked on the side of the road with their lights off as Mr Murdoch’s truck proceeds down the street. It is alleged one of these was Mr Barton’s motorbike.

As Mr Murdoch came back out of the street, the footage showed the truck moving out to avoid some parked cars and once the truck is past those parked cars, a motorbike can be seen inching forward out of a side driveway.

Police prosecutor Jordan Theed paused the video at this point, just before the collision, asking Mr Murdoch whether he accepted that the motorcyclist was “very clearly” visible.

The scene of the crash at Viola Place. Picture: 7NEWS

“No, I disagree 100 per cent. The dashcam can see it, I couldn’t because I’m sitting further back in the truck,” Mr Murdoch explained.

The video does not show the actual collision, but does show the milliseconds prior as the motorbike inches out into the road, which is followed by an audible “bang” or “thud” sound.

When questioned by Mr Theed, Mr Murdoch said noise was him reaching to adjust his sun visor, his arm getting caught in his Esky, and accidentally knocking his Esky over.

Theed: “If you were reaching up in order to grab the sun visor that’s directly in front of you, there’s no way that your elbow would have been able to be caught in the Esky that was down beside you?”

Murdoch: “I disagree.”

Theed: “And your evidence is that this has occurred coincidentally at just the same time as you’ve collided with the motorcyclist?”

Murdoch: “Correct.”

Seconds after the collision, Mr Murdoch is heard on the footage to say “f***ing idiot”. He said in court that he was referring to himself.

“Granted, it looks bad, it was coincidental though,” he told the court.

Around 35 seconds after the collision, Mr Murdoch is heard saying “he came out and hit me”.

“I was referring to the B-double driver that hit me approximately two months before,” the defendant explained when asked why he said that.

Later on in the dashcam footage, Mr Murdoch is heard saying “little c**t come out and f***ing hit me, you f***ing cockhead”. Again, Mr Murdoch told the court he was reminiscing about the collision with another truck two months prior.

“I put it to you that if you were referring to a B-double, you wouldn’t use the adjective ‘little’ to describe the incident?” Mr Theed questioned.

“You never saw the driver of the B-double, he was short, that’s why I said that,” Mr Murdoch said.

Mr Theed bluntly suggested to Mr Murdoch that both expletive mumblings were regarding motorcyclist collision that occurred less than two minutes prior.

“No, I disagree,” the defendant replied.

The case was adjourned for a further hearing on January 22 next year.