Coroner hits out at petrolkiller dad

A CORONER has slammed a man who rigged his car with petrol bombs before ploughing into a tree in a murder-suicide, saying he disregarded his sons’ “fundamental human rights”.

Police at the scene of the crash.

• Darren Milne may have driven car into tree
• Double murder-suicide driver planted bombs in engine bay
• Ben Milne, 7, on the road to recovery after an horrific crash

A CORONER has slammed a man who rigged his car with petrol bombs before ploughing into a tree in a murder-suicide, saying he disregarded his sons’ “fundamental human rights”.

In handing down his findings on Friday into the deaths of Darren Milne and his wife Susana Estevez and their son Liam Milne, Coroner David Day said the fatalities­ were “preventable” and that the 42 year old rigged his car with fuel ­canisters so they would ignite­ on impact.

Milne’s other son Benjamin survived the horror crash.

Liam Milne with his mum Susana Estevez Castillo.

Darren Milne and his wife, Susana Estevez Castillo, was killed after he rigged his car with petrol bombs last year.

“It is unusual for a coroner to comment on the conduct of a person who has taken their own life,” Mr Day said.

“Two other lives were taken by him and the actions of ­Darren Milne should attract­ more    than   the   usual   disapproval attached to murder and suicide.

“He made assumptions about the quality of the boys’ lives. He disregarded the boys’ fundamental human rights.

‘‘He disregarded potential­ advances in medical science potentially beneficial to the boys. He assumed successful execution­ of his plan without regard to the possibility that the front seat occupants, he and Susana may not survive, but that one or both the rear seat passengers would survive, terribly injured, severely­ disabled or otherwise, or worse, be conscious, trapped inside the cabin when the car caught fire.”

The gutted car after the crash.

The inquest heard that  Milne, an electrical engineer with Ausgrid, feared he and his wife would not be able to cope after their sons Liam, 11, and Benjamin, 7, were diagnosed­ with fragile X syndrome.

Mr Day said the couple ­embarked on seven cycles of IVF at $10,000 before conceiving a third child, who one witness suggested would be a “potential carer” for the boys when their parents were no longer capable. Ms Estevez, 39, was 30 weeks’ pregnant when her husband deliberately drove their Toyota Corolla station wagon into a tree on Enterprise Drive, at Fountaindale, on February 1 last year.

Milne had spent months planning the gruesome murder-suicide with dash cam footage of him doing up to 10 “practise runs” tendered to the court. An examination of the wreckage found two 600ml metal canisters filled with petrol that the coroner said were rigged to the car’s battery so they would ignite on impact­.

But the fuel canisters did not ignite with witness Colin Cooper, travelling directly ­behind the Milnes, seeing their car’s battery fly off onto the roadway on impact.

The couple (pictured below) died instantly and paramedics worked to save Liam but he died at the scene.

Benjamin was flown to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. He has since recovered­ from his injuries and is living with an aunt in London.

Milne had been seeing a psychologist but Mr Day said he “dropped out of treatment” and “disregarded the excellent services available to persons contemplating self harm.”