Truck driver left pedestrian with cracked skull in ‘careless’ crash

A disqualified driver has been jailed for smashing into a pedestrian with a truck and fleeing the scene without stopping, leaving the man wounded in the street with a cracked skull.

Leslie Paul Skeen, 44, outside Brisbane Magistrates Court.

A disqualified driver has been jailed for smashing into a pedestrian with a truck and fleeing the scene without stopping, leaving the man wounded in the street with a cracked skull.

A Brisbane court has heard how the driver, 44-year-old Leslie Paul Skeen, claimed he knew he had hit “something” but didn’t realise it was a person when he continued driving down Nudgee Road, Northgate, without stopping on February 22 last year.

Brisbane Magistrates Court heard at Skeen’s sentence on Wednesday how he had been driving a borrowed small truck when he drifted over the solid white line and struck a pedestrian, who had been waiting to cross the road.

Dashcam footage played in court showed how the victim had been standing between parked cars on the left side of the road, wearing a bright orange shirt, when Skeen’s vehicle veered towards him.

The pedestrian was thrown into the air on impact, but Skeen continued to drive onwards, sideswiping three parked vehicles in the process.

The victim reported suffering a cracked skull, a dislodged cheekbone which required surgery, a broken clavicle rib, bruising, and a fractured knee.

Skeen pleaded guilty to charges of driving without due care causing grievous bodily harm, failing to remain at the scene of an incident and render assistance, driving without a licence, and failing to comply with duties of driver involved in a crash.

The court heard he had an “extensive” criminal and traffic history, including convictions for unlawful use of a motor vehicle and driving unlicensed.

The father-of-five had also been convicted previously of driving under the influence of drugs, the court was told.

Defence lawyer Andrew Fleming said his client had been a significant meth user in the past but was now sober.

The court heard there was no evidence Skeen was intoxicated in any way at the time of the incident.

The prosecution submitted that actual imprisonment would be in range for Skeen’s offending, but Mr Fleming submitted that actual jail time was unnecessary.

He said Skeen acknowledged he had been “careless” and should not have been driving while disqualified, but said there were ultimately “no winners in these matters”.

Magistrate Andrew Moloney adjourned the matter for several hours to consider Skeen’s fate.

After reconvening, Mr Moloney sentenced Skeen to nine months imprisonment with parole release set for May 11 – meaning Skeen would have to serve two months in actual custody.

Mr Moloney emphasised the importance of deterring offenders from disobeying court orders such as licence disqualifications, in order to protect the community.

He said he had no reason not to accept Skeen’s submission that he didn’t know that he’d struck someone.

“Although again if he didn’t know that, he wasn’t paying attention,” Mr Moloney said.

Skeen was taken into custody and disqualified from driving for a period of two years.