ACT Magistrates Court sentences Ryan Martin over head-on Monaro Highway crash

A grandfather has told a negligent driver he is incapable of forgiveness after a head-on crash left him in “unimaginable” pain. Find out what sentence the offender received.

Ryan Martin leaves the ACT Magistrates Court after being sentenced. Picture: Blake Foden

A grandfather has told a negligent driver he is incapable of forgiveness after a head-on crash left him in “unimaginable” pain and ruined his retirement.

“If you had not driven that day, this would not have happened,” the victim wrote in a statement read to the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

“For this, I cannot forgive you. Your reckless behaviour has impacted both our lives forever.”

The victim was addressing Canberra smash repairer Ryan Martin, who was placed on an 18-month good behaviour order, disqualified from driving for six months and fined $500.

Magistrate Jane Campbell convicted Martin and imposed those sentences after he pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and driving while suspended.

Ryan Martin outside court on Wednesday. Picture: Blake Foden

Martin, 32, committed those offences on December 23, 2022, when dashcam footage from another vehicle showed his Ford Falcon XR6 swerving suddenly on the Monaro Highway.

The Falcon crossed a slip lane and continued over a grass median strip onto the wrong side of the dual carriageway, where it smashed head-on into the victim’s Ford Ranger utility.

The aftermath of the head-on crash on the Monaro Highway. Picture: Supplied

Both drivers were taken to hospital with serious injuries, which required surgery.

The victim’s physical ailments included torn shoulder muscles, which have resulted in permanent scarring and disfigurement.

He has also been left with post-traumatic stress disorder by the crash, which caused him to wonder, in the immediate aftermath: “Will I live through this?”

“I thought I was going to die,” the victim wrote in his statement, which also detailed the “intense flashbacks” he still experiences more than 18 months after the incident.

The ACT Magistrates Court, where the sentencing occurred. Picture: Gary Ramage

The man outlined how he had been preparing to host a family Christmas gathering, which was cancelled when he instead ended up spending the festive season recovering in bed.

Since then, he has struggled to participate in his hobbies and has been unable to use the speedboat he bought to enjoy with his family when he retired.

The man said his enjoyment of his children’s recent weddings had also been impacted by what he described as “agonising” and “unimaginable” pain stemming from the collision.

But the most “distressing” thing for him was being unable to pick up his grandchildren.

“It tears at my heart because my grandchildren mean everything to me,” the victim wrote.

The court heard Martin’s usual car was being serviced on the day in question, when he made what defence lawyer Anastasia Qvist called a “foolish” decision to hop in the Falcon.

A mechanic who inspected the Falcon following the crash found it to be unroadworthy because, in part, its rear tyres were completely bald.

Prosecutor Taden Kelliher called this “a recipe for disaster”, saying Martin “should’ve known better” because his job in the automotive industry required him to do daily safety checks.

Ms Qvist pushed for a non-conviction order, saying the Theodore resident had suffered a broken leg and a shattered elbow, while he was also likely to lose his job managing a smash repair business.

But Mr Kelliher argued such an outcome would be “wholly inappropriate”.

The prosecutor told Ms Campbell a non-conviction order would effectively tell the community: “That’s alright. Don’t worry about checking your cars.”

Ms Campbell agreed, saying the court needed to send a strong message to the community and recognise the harm done to the victim, whose life had been “irrevocably changed”.

The magistrate, who said “every driver has done something negligent”, also noted Martin’s right to drive in the ACT had been suspended for more than three years at the time of the crash.

This was the result of unpaid fines dating back to 2011.