Justone Wong convicted and sentenced over fatal crash

A serving police officer who killed an elderly bus driver after speeding down a semi rural road has learnt his fate over “the biggest mistake” of his life as the family of the victim speak out.

Justone Wong leaving Penrith Local Court. Picture: Nathan Schmidt

An on-duty police officer who killed an elderly bus driver while speeding past a give-way sign on a semi rural road has dodged a full time jail sentence.

Justone Wong, 41 was sentenced in Campbelltown District Court after pleading guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death over a fatal crash in the semi rural suburb of Llandilo in May 2022.

Sergeant Wong was driving to Londonderry when his police car ploughed through an intersection and into a bus driven by 76-year-old Andy Leonello.

Mr Leonello was on his way to pick up schoolchildren for an excursion when he was thrown from his vehicle, dying at the scene a short time later from blunt force injuries.

The court heard Wong was travelling at 97km/h in an 80 zone and had not paid attention to the give-way sign at the intersecting Third and Fifth avenues.

Wong initially intended to fight the charges before entering a guilty plea in May.

Andy Leonello was killed in the accident.

On Tuesday, the senior sergeant was convicted and sentenced to an intensive corrections order of 22 months with 350 hours of community service work.

Following the sentence Mr Leonello’s daughter Melina said her family wanted to “move forward” but acknowledge that “no sentence is going to bring Dad back”.

“This has consumed us for two years and now we move on and remember Dad for the person he was and now the way he died,” Ms Leonello said.

Andy Leonello with his wife Margaret, son Peter, daughter Melina and daughter-in-law Tina.

“No amount of time served is going to make this better and it’s not going to change the outcome. I’d hate for another family to go through this but I know they will.

“We need to make harsher penalties to send out a message about road safety … a car is a weapon”.

During a previous sentencing hearing Wong told the court he “would never forgive” himself for the “biggest mistake” of his life.

“There's nothing I can do or say to bring him back I have learnt a lifelong lesson and failed his family, the community and the police force,” Wong said.

Meanwhile Wong’s employment with NSW Police remains “under review” with a spokesman confirming he is not in the workplace.

A previous court heard that Wong was an “exemplary member of the police force” and was awarded for his involvement in the Lindt Cafe siege.