Berkeley Vale: Mitchell James Brennan, 25, jailed for drunken head-on crash that left man disabled
A young surf shop manager, who partied in Newcastle before driving 78km to the Central Coast where he crashed head-on into another car, maiming another motorist, has been sentenced.
Central Coast
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Music dropout turned retail manager Mitchell James Brennan started drinking daily during Covid but let his hair down during his first night out after lockdown with catastrophic results, a court has heard.
The 25-year-old appeared in person at Gosford District Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and failing to stop and assist after a crash.
Brennan, of Bateau Bay, was sentenced to three years and four months jail with a non-parole period of 20 months.
With time served since he was taken into custody following his guilty pleas in Wyong Local Court last year Brennan will be eligible for release on September 30, 2024.
On Wednesday the court heard Brennan had enrolled in a music degree after finishing high school but dropped out to work in retail where he became the manager of a surf shop on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Judge Tanya Bright said Brennan started drinking daily during Covid but made a spur of the moment decision to go and watch a friend perform at Newcastle, which was his first night out since lockdowns were lifted.
An agreed set of facts states Brennan was drinking at the Hamilton Hotel until about 2.30am on February 3, 2022, when he drove his silver Subaru Forester home.
Brennan was driving along Wyong Rd when he crossed over to the wrong side of the dual carriageway at the intersection of Enterprise Drive.
He was almost at the next intersection, the roundabout of Bundeena Rd, when he came around a bend into the path of a 65-year-old man driving a blue Mitsubishi Mirage about 3.30am.
The older driver saw Brennan’s “headlights” swerving along the road and tried to avoid him but it was too late.
Brennan’s Forester slammed into the victim’s car with such force it spun 180 degrees and the man was pinned inside with a shattered left leg, broken ribs and fractured sternum.
His leg was so badly injured doctors thought they might have to amputate.
The court heard the man underwent three surgeries and nearly two years later he still struggles with daily pain and swelling.
Brennan got out of the car and said to the victim “you are going the wrong bloody way mate” and the victim replied “get the f**k away from me”.
Other drivers pulled over to help and had to stop Brennan from leaving the scene about seven to 10 times.
At one point a Triple 0 operator talking to one witness could hear people telling Brennan to stay where he was because “you’re clearly drunk”.
Brennan was taken to Wyong Police Station where he recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.167 at 4.27am.
A report tendered to court from a pharmacological expert estimated Brennan’s reading would have been about 0.180 at the time of collision.
Judge Bright said while there was no way of knowing which route Brennan took from Hamilton to Berkeley Vale he had driven a minimum of 78km over the course of an hour putting untold other motorists at risk.
“The driving clearly created a very significant danger to other road users,” she said.
Judge Bright said Brennan had no previous criminal history, had a job managing a surf shop waiting for him on his release and the support of his family and fiance, who also wrote a letter to the court.
She said in Brennan’s own letter of apology to the court he said it was the “worst decsion” of his life and he acted “atrociously” after the crash in the way he spoke to the victim and trying to flee the scene.
She said Brennan’s soft nature made him a target in jail for unwanted violent and sexual attention.
“I’m terrified, I don’t belong here, I don’t want to belong here,” Brennan wrote to his mother shortly after being remanded in custody.
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