Truck driver Robert Crockford wants crash death convictions quashed

A sleep-deprived truckie whose prime mover ploughed into multiple vehicles and killed a couple wants his convictions quashed.

A Queensland truck driver who was jailed over a horrific crash that killed a couple in regional NSW has launched an appeal against his convictions because a prosecutor allegedly “ridiculed and belittled” his claim a coughing fit caused the carnage.

Robert Crockford was travelling from Brisbane to Canberra when the prime mover he was driving ploughed into multiple vehicles that were stopped at road works 20km north of Dubbo in January 2018.

Hannah Ferguson was killed in the crash. Picture: Facebook

Reagen Skinner lost his life in the crash. Picture: Instagram

University student Hannah Ferguson, 19, and her boyfriend Reagen Skinner, 21, were crushed to death, while 10 other people sustained serious injuries.

In September 2020 – after a jury found Crockford guilty of two counts of dangerous driving causing death and multiple other counts of dangerous and wanton driving causing bodily harm – he was sentenced to a minimum five years and four months behind bars.

NSW District Court Judge Nanette Williams said Crockford consumed alcohol the night before the crash, accessed the internet on his phone at 1.30am and was affected by fatigue and undiagnosed sleep apnoea.

“The offender had about four hours and 45 minutes sleep two nights before the collision and about five hours and 45 minutes on the night before the collision,” she said.

“Approaching the point of collision there was a series of warning signs. It is fair to say that he did not reduce his speed in accordance with those signs.

“The offender did not break, swerve, decelerate or take any evasive action.”

Robert Crockford wants his convictions quashed.

The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Friday was told that Crockford wanted the convictions quashed because an alleged miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Crockford’s barrister Luke Brasch said his client had been denied a fair trial because of comments made in a Crown prosecutor’s closing address to the jury that “ridiculed and belittled” the defence case.

The prosecutor was wrong to tell the jury the defence case was full of “lies, inconsistencies and red herrings”, Mr Brasch said.

The court was told during the trial that the jury was asked to consider the possibility Crockford had a condition known as cough syncope, which results in loss of consciousness during coughing fits like the one he alleged occurred at the time of the crash.

Mr Brasch said the prosecutor told the jury the condition was “a myth debunked” and an “excuse”.

Crockford is due to become eligible for parole in 2025.

After a witness gave evidence in the trial and made reference to cases in the UK where truck drives had been acquitted on the basis of cough syncope, Mr Bransch said the prosecutor told the jury it would be “dangerous to pay attention” to that and suggested the juries in the UK were fooled.

“That was an egregious and serious overstatement,” Mr Bransch said.

“It’s a submission which had the potential to be and would have been prejudicial. There was no basis in the evidence to make the suggestion the UK jury was fooled.”

Mr Brasch said the prosecutor’s decision to say “your roads” instead of “these roads” when addressing the jury was also wrong because “it was an attempt to suggest to the jury that they had some personal stake beyond being just objective judges of the facts”.

The Crown prosecutor in Crockford’s appeal case, Brett Hatfield SC, said some of the statements made in the trial “had a hyperbolic aspect to them”.

He said the comments about the UK case were “inappropriate”, but there was no danger of a miscarriage of justice.

“It should have been avoided but given … how it was addressed by Her Honour there was no danger of miscarriage of justice by that statement,” he said.

Judgement on the appeal has been reserved.

Originally published as Truck driver Robert Crockford wants crash death convictions quashed