Harold Chatfield: Jason Wylie sentenced for death of charity worker
A man who killed a beloved indigenous charity worker as he stood on the footpath in Sydney’s inner west was hooning around street racing on a busy highway moments before. WATCH THE DASHCAM FOOTAGE BEFORE THE FATAL CRASH.
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Jason James Wylie, who killed beloved Aboriginal elder Harold Chatfield as he stood on the footpath in Sydney’s inner west because he was engaging in “unfathomable’’ street racing like a “youth’’ on the Hume Highway will spend the next three years behind bars.
The 42-year-old former professional driver pleaded guilty to aggravated driving occasioning death after his black Holden Commodore struck the St Vincent de Paul charity worker, who had just finished watching a family member receive an award from a high school at 10.36am.
The name of the school or person cannot be named for legal reasons.
At an earlier sentence hearing, Wylie, of Waterloo, conceded he was showing off when he started racing the Mercedes-AMG after he heard the engine rev up.
The street racing led to Wylie fishtailing a bus southbound on the highway before he lost control, cut across oncoming traffic and struck Mr Chatfield, slamming his body on to a group of trees and killing him instantly.
The court heard how Wylie, a former bus driver who was on his way to visit a friend at Bonnyrigg the morning of the fatality, became temporarily airborne after hitting the kerb and was speeding at 115km/h four seconds before killing Mr Chatfield.
Dramatic footage shows how close Wylie came to crashing into other cars.
At Parramatta District Court today, the court heard how distressed Wylie was after striking his victim, telling police: “Please make sure he’s OK. Please, please, I don’t want to be responsible for killing anyone. Please, please make sure he is OK.’’
During her sentencing remarks, Judge Sophia Beckett said the incident was “truly unfathomable’’ as the offender was driving in a way related to “youthful activity’’.
She referred to Wylie’s direct apologies to the victim’s family in court recently and noted how the family had comforted him with hugs and kind words at his first court appearance in 2018.
She said the courage, dignity and empathy towards the offender “illustrated how remarkable human beings can be even in the most difficult and trying of circumstances”.
The court heard how Wylie, who is an orderly at a Newtown day surgery, had a rough upbringing.
His parents were drug dependent and his mother inflicted emotional abuse on him saying she wish he was never born.
They separated when he was 10 and was raised by his extended family.
Justice Beckett told the court Wylie had strong prospects of rehabilitation with strong family support and employment but said Mr Chatfield’s family had undergone a profound tragedy and imprisonment was the only suitable sentence.
She handed Wylie a sentence of three years and seven months and he is eligible for parole on December 21, 2022.
He calmly accepted his judgment before waving to his aunt, cousin and partner, who cried, before he was taken into custody.
Justice Beckett wished him good luck. “Mr Wylie, clearly you have a supportive and loving family and certainly they will stay with you in custody.
“I have no doubt you will never drive like this again and good luck for the future.’’
The sentence was initially set for July 21 but had been adjourned three times before Friday.
Outside court, Mr Chatfield’s fiancee Tracey Anne Madden and sister Jackie Evans said they wanted to appeal the sentence.
“It’s not long enough,’’ Mr Madden said.
“I’m not a mean person, I don’t hate him but I don’t forgive him right now.’’
Ms Evans was equally critical.
“Was that all my brother’s life was worth? Three years, seven months? He gets to come out to a job, a wife, a family. “He deliberately sped.’’
Ms Madden said her fiance was so popular it took them two hours to reach the shops because everyone wanted to talk to the charity worker, who was a respected member of the Aboriginal community.
The father and popular friend grew up in Woolloomooloo and Redfern and was a respected elder in the indigenous community.
He overcame gambling and alcohol problems before working for St Vincent de Paul and CatholicCare in Canberra and Sydney, including CatholicCare’s Waitara Family Centre as a homelessness support worker for two years to 2017.