Five Dock truck crash: Driver Hamish Thomas Middleton enters pleas in court over seven car crash on Parramatta Rd

Dramatic dashcam footage captured the moment a truck driver ran a red light and ploughed into seven cars after he “fumbled” his coffee in Sydney’s inner west. Warning: Graphic

A Blacktown truck driver ran a red light and ploughed into seven cars after he “fumbled” his coffee in Sydney’s inner west.

Hamish Thomas Middleton, from The Ponds, faced Burwood Local Court on Monday where he faced a hearing after pleading not guilty to a dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm charge.

He previously pleaded guilty to five counts of causing bodily harm by misconduct while driving, one count of negligent driving causing actual bodily harm and one count of not stopping at a red light.

Court documents state the 54-year-old was driving a fuel truck along Parramatta Rd, Five Dock about 4.30pm on January 12 last year when failed to stop at a red light and smashed into seven cars.

Middleton outside Burwood Court House after being charged with crashing into seven cars last year.

Six people were injured in the pile up.

During his hearing, the court heard the Crash Investigation Unit confirmed the truck did not have any mechanical faults.

Dashcam footage from one of the cars hit by the truck was played in court.

The video showed the Toyota stopping at an intersection before suddenly being rear-ended by the truck causing it to spin and fly across the intersection while slamming into other cars.

Middleton’s lawyer Anthony Strik said his client was “inattentive” when he crashed and acknowledged the incident resulted in several people being hospitalised – with one woman receiving a broken arm and some fractures.

However there was debate about whether Middleton had been driving dangerously leading up to the crash.

Mr Strik argued dangerous driving was a result of a lack of sleep, drugs, alcohol, burnout or police pursuit which was not the case for Middleton.

He said the light had switched to red in seconds when Middleton “fumbled his coffee cup”. “The truck ought to have stopped,” he said.

The truck was captured on CCTV moments before the crash.

The moment of impact captured on dashcam footage which was played in court.

Mr Strik said after the crash, Middleton told police he believed he had his feet on the brake but was not sure.

“How was it dangerous when he was breaking to some extent?” he said. “It was definitely negligent as he failed to slow down.”

Police prosecutor Daniel Symington said Middleton was driving dangerously but not maliciously, because his eyes were not on the road for about nine seconds after he had spilt coffee on himself.

The view from the car as it crashed through a fence.

The court heard several people were injured with one woman suffering a broken arm and other fractures.

“His attention was diverted to clean it up, he did not see the red light,” he said.

“It was more than a momentary distraction while he was driving a heavy vehicle in a built-up area.”

Magistrate Jennifer Price reserved her decision on the dangerous driving charge and requested a sentence assessment report for the remaining charges. Middleton will return to court in late April.

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