Danny ‘Skids’ Collins jailed over death of Clint ‘Clunker’ Donaldson in Gorokan
A wife’s heartbreaking and powerful statement has been read out in court after her husband — a father of two — was tragically killed by a negligent driver at Gorokan, on the Central Coast. Now the man responsible for the death has been sentenced.
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The wife of Clint ‘Clunker’ Donaldson can’t look at a picture of her husband who was tragically killed after being hit by a car without seeing his “unrecognisable face”, a court has heard.
Renea Donaldson’s victim impact statement was read at Wyong Local Court on Tuesday as Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis sentenced Danny Lee Collins to 12 months jail, with a non-parole period of nine months, for negligent driving causing the death of Mr Donaldson.
Mr Collins, known to friends as “skids”, was behind the wheel of a gold Ford Falcon XR6 when he struck Mr Donaldson, 47, at 6.30pm on November 22, 2018 on Marks Rd in Gorokan. He pleaded guilty to the offence in October.
A relative of Mr Donaldson, who was a long time member of Soldiers Beach Surf Club, read the victim impact statement in court as Mr Collins sat sobbing with his head buried in his hands.
“My children and I cannot be here today, we can’t face the person that took away my husband and their dad,” the statement read.
“Where do I start. This has been the hardest thing I have ever had to write. I want you all to imagine your loved one being taken from you in seconds.”
The statement described how Mrs Donaldson went outside that day to find her husband bleeding in the gutter with “part of his brain extruding from his skull”.
“I reached down to find a pulse and there was no sign of life for my husband. I was screaming ‘help me, someone please help me’. I couldn’t save him. He was already gone.”
She said that she had been “living with guilt that I couldn’t save the man I loved for 27 years”.
“It was the driver’s fault … it was because of his negligence that my husband died that afternoon. I have to live with the vision of him being unrecognisable. I have to live with never being able to say goodbye to him. I have to live with that fact that within seconds he was gone and I never got to see him again. Every day I live that moment over and over again. The vision never leaves me.”
She said when she looked at pictures of Mr Donaldson, all she sees is his disfigured face.
“This was the man I loved. Both my children cried for days, weeks and even today. Clint will now never get to see his kids grow. Who is going to walk our daughter down the aisle? Who is going to be our son’s best man? What about our dream of travelling around the world when we retire? Clint is going to miss all of this.
“He loved life and his family and all his friends. He was always trying to make sure the right thing was done by others and the community.”
She said when she asked her children if they wanted to add something they said, “I hope he has to live with this for the rest of his life mum because we do.”
After the statement was read Mr Collins, a father of three, gave an emotional apology to the family.
“It should have been me that day, no one else,” he said. “I think about his children and how my children would be if I died. Every day I think about what I did to Mr Donaldson. I don’t deserve to be alive for it. I wish I could say sorry better but I don’t know how to.”
Magistrate Ellis began by saying “two families lives have been ripped apart”.
“The family of Clint Donaldson ask for justice. I will give them justice,” she said.
“I can’t give them Mr Donaldson back. Mr Collins also displays huge remorse but I can’t give him what he wants.”
The court heard the agreed set of facts state Mr Collins was driving in a 50km/h speed zone, and there was no evidence his speed was excessive or he had been affected by drugs or alcohol.
At 6.30pm Mr Collins was driving down Marks Rd when the setting sun blinded his vision. A witness said he saw the family dog run in the middle of the road being chased by Mr Donaldson.
The witness said: “I heard a really loud sound of a car breaking and saw Mr Donaldson laying in a gutter on the opposite side of the road”.
“Mr Collins did the honourable thing and stopped,” Magistrate Ellis said.
“He ran to assist Mr Donaldson.”
The facts state Mr Collins told police he was driving through with the sun in his face and pulled the visor down before he hit Mr Donaldson.
Police investigations showed he travelled 89 metres in 6.4 seconds confirming his speed of 50km/h.
She outlined his criminal record which included offences dating back to 2008 including speeding, driving whilst disqualified along with fines for negligent driving, using his mobile phone and seatbelt offences.
Magistrate Ellis disqualified Mr Collins’s licence for two years before sentencing him to full time imprisonment. He will be eligible for release on September 9, 2020.
Mr Collins wiped his eyes as he was led out of the room, with his family in tears, while Mr Donaldson’s family also wept as the sentence was read.
Mr Collins has since lodged an appeal and been granted bail.