Wilfred Tayag guilty of negligent driving, left motorcyclist Alexander Hess with ‘catastrophic’ injuries

An “impatient” man who collided with a motorcyclist, leaving him with “catastrophic” injuries and in a coma for 11 days, will learn his fate in the coming days.

Wilfred Tayag appeared at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday.

An “impatient” man who collided with a motorcyclist, leaving him with “catastrophic” injuries and in a coma for 11 days, will learn his fate in the coming days.

Wilfred Tayag, of Forest Lodge, appeared at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and not give way to vehicle.

Agreed facts reveal the 32-year-old was driving a Volkswagen Passat in Caringbah on the evening of September 8 and stopped at a give way sign on Bay Rd, to turn onto Taren Point Rd.

CCTV vision from a nearby business, tendered to court, showed Tayag make the turn without giving way and colliding with motorcyclist Alexander Hess who was flung into the air and over the car’s bonnet.

Police believe Tayag didn’t see Mr Hess as a red vehicle, turning from Taren Point Rd onto Bay Rd, had obscured his vision.

Sutherland Local Court.

Mr Hess was initially unconscious as bystanders rushed to his assistance before emergency services arrived. A NSW Ambulance helicopter assisted with treatment before he was taken to St George Hospital.

Tayag was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where he produced his Filipino driver’s licence to police and told officers did not see Mr Hess before the collision.

Wilfred Tayag walking out of Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday.

Mr Hess sustained a number of serious injuries, including fractures to the skull, a dislocated and fractured pelvis, a fractured eye socket, damage to nerves behind his eyes, a damaged pituitary gland, a fractured jaw, fractures to his right tibia and fibula.

He was placed in an induced coma for 11 days.

Police spoke with Mr Hess, who had been a fly-in, fly-out worker on the Snowy Mountain Hydro project, at hospital in November where he said he couldn’t remember the collision.

He told officers he could remember flying to Sydney on the day of the collision and would normally ride his motorcycle from the airport to his Taren Point home.

Mr Hess was discharged from hospital in January. As of March, he requires daily assistance from a carer at his home and undertakes physiotherapy two times a week.

On Tuesday, Magistrate Phillip Stewart told the court he believed a prison sentence was appropriate as a result of the “catastrophic” injuries.

He said Tayag was “clearly impatient”. The 32-year-old man’s lawyer told the court his client was suitable for a community service order.

Mr Stewart said he would need “a couple of days to think about it” and adjourned the sentence to 2pm on Friday.