Timothy Meredith: Sleep deprived Minto man imprisoned for fatal crash in January 2020

A Minto man who had been awake for more than 50 hours when he fell asleep at the wheel and caused a fatal crash has been sentenced.

A Minto man who hadn’t slept for more than two days, except for a two-and-a-half hour nap, has been sentenced for a fatal crash when he fell asleep at the wheel.

Timothy Meredith, 32, appeared via audio visual link in Dubbo District Court on Thursday, June 2, pleading guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death.

Documents tendered to court reveal the offence happened at 6pm on January 20, 2020 on Guntawang Road, Galambine as Meredith was accompanied by two passengers and was suffering from sleep deprivation.

Guntawang Road. Picture: Google Maps.

Half an hour before the incident, Meredith stopped at a church in Goolma to have a cigarette, stretch his legs and have a rest before continuing on the trip from Dubbo to Mudgee.

“The offender did this in an attempt to ameliorate the symptoms of fatigue that he had noticed affecting him,” agreed facts state.

“Unbeknown to the offender, at some point between leaving the church and the collision the deceased removed her seatbelt.

“The deceased was seated behind the offender.”

At approximately 6pm, Meredith was driving the Ford Territory SUV along Guntawang Road when he fell asleep, resulting in the car travelling into the opposite northbound lane.

A man driving an Isuzu Table Top truck travelling in the northbound lane could see Meredith’s vehicle “veering” onto the wrong side of the road, and he started to flash his lights and sound his horn.

“The offender’s vehicle did not make any correcting manoeuvres in response to the actions of (the truck driver),” documents reveal.

“(He) applied his brakes and began to steer his vehicle to the left of his lane in an attempt to avoid the offender’s vehicle.”

Meredith’s car continued into the path of the truck, with the front driver’s side guard hitting the front side corner of the Isuzu.

His car then left the road, impacting a small dirt embankment, with the vehicle rolling over and ejecting the deceased from the vehicle.

The car came to rest upside down on a fence alongside the body of the deceased.

Meredith and the surviving passenger were able to remove themselves from the vehicle, speaking to the truck driver, and ultimately identifying that the deceased “was not breathing and had no pulse”.

Emergency services were called, with the Rural Fire Service unsuccessfully attempting to assist the deceased.

The surviving passenger was taken to Dubbo Base Hospital and treated for minor injuries. The truck driver was conveyed to Gulgong Hospital with multiple injuries and has received ongoing psychological support.

On April 17, 2020, Meredith was arrested by police and conveyed to Mudgee Police Station for questioning.

He later admitted that he was awake from 11.30am on January 18, 2020 until the collision on January 20, except for a two-and-a-half hour sleep.

In that time, he worked a night shift, and travelled to Orange, Dubbo and Mudgee.

Meredith said he did not see the truck prior to the collision and “woke up from the car roll”, saying he believed the incident occurred due to “my tiredness” and that he was “better off going home and getting sleep”.

“He was ‘umming and ahing’ about agreeing to drive,” documents reveal.

In a report from a sleep specialist organised by the Crown, Dr Anup Desai revealed Meredith was experiencing acute sleep deprivation, “which in turn caused the car to drift to the other side of the road and then impact”.

“There were no other factors other than lack of sleep that contributed to the offender falling asleep at the time immediately preceding the impact,” agreed facts state.

Dubbo Court House where Timothy Meredith appeared via audio visual link.

The court heard from Meredith’s defence lawyer, Mr Broadbank that the IQ of his client fell at the low end of the low average range, meaning his intellectual issues in some way contributed to the offence.

“Cases such as this, involve inherently a decision, do I do something or do I stop doing something,” Mr Broadbank said.

Mr Broadbank appealed to Judge Smith to factor this into his ultimate decision for a sentence, saying Meredith was unlikely to offend in this way again due to PTSD and ongoing mental health issues since the offence.

He said that Meredith had experienced flashbacks of the incident, but has been improving since getting access to support and medication.

The crown prosecutor highlighted Meredith’s acknowledgement of being too tired to drive, but said he ignored “the warning” and continued on with the trip.

Judge Smith accepted that Meredith was “significantly” sleep-deprived, saying absent of the cigarette break at the church, “there would be an abandonment of responsibility”.

He accepted the defence’s case that Meredith was unlikely to reoffend and was “generally” remorseful.

“I accept that the legislature has always placed a premium (on) human life,” Judge Smith said.

“The only appropriate sentence is imprisonment”.

Having spent time in custody for an unrelated matter, Judge Smith convicted Meredith with a sentence period of two years and nine months, starting on May 21, 2021 with a non-parole period of one year and seven months.

The sentence expires on February 20, 2024.