Daily cannabis user Damien Phillip Swan jailed for crash which killed Salamander Bay couple Ron and Robyn Thomson

He was stoned on cannabis and driving erratically when he crashed into the retired couple’s car on a Port Stephens roundabout. Now, a judge has handed down her sentence to Damien Phillip Swan.

Damien Phillip Swan, the son of a retired police officer who hid seizures from authorities for decades and was stoned on cannabis when he killed a retired couple driving home from lunch, has been jail for a maximum of seven-and-a-half years.

Newcastle District Court Judge Sharon Harris set a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years for Swan, who had driven almost 30km from Tanilba Bay when he hit the car carrying Robyn and Ron Thomson on August 26, 2020.

The impact sent the Thomsons’ car onto an island at the roundabout where Salamander Way turns into Soldiers Point Road at the intersection of Port Stephens Drive.

The crash scene at Salamander Bay on August 26, 2020. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Driver Robyn, 77, and her 80-year-old husband Ron, who was in the front passenger seat, died at the scene.

The couple had retired to Salamander Bay from Sydney in 2004, with the court hearing that they were highly-valued members of their community who volunteered for local groups and were family orientated.

Their deaths have rocked the community and devastated their family, with two of their three children writing heartbreaking victim impact statements that were read to the court last week.

Damien Swan has been sentenced to a maximum seven-and-a-half years for the crash which killed Robyn and Ron Thomson at Salamander Bay on August 26, 2020. Picture: Amy Ziniak

Judge Harris said Swan, 45, had admitted smoking up to nine “cones” of cannabis daily for over 20 years before he jumped in his car to drive the 35km from Tanilba Bay to Corlette.

He had smoked cannabis on the morning of the crash before getting in his car.

An agreed statement of facts said Swan was seen “zigzagging” about 400 metres before the crash scene band had overtaken a stationary turning car on a shoulder, losing control and accelerating before hitting a kerb on the other side of the road and careering into the roundabout, hitting the Thomsons’ car.

Paramedics, who had seen the crash and stopped to help, said Swan had replied “I am fine, who wants to know” after being asked if he was okay.

The crash scene at Salamander Bay. Picture: Peter Lorimer

He denied being in a collision and later said “leave me alone” before telling a police officer “I am just wondering why my car is here”.

Medical experts said blood and urine tests taken from Swan suggested he was “very substantially impaired” by cannabis at the time of the collision.

Judge Harris said Swan also had a history of “seizures” which he had hidden from authorities for more than 20 years as he continued to successfully apply for his driver’s licence.

He had began using cannabis when he was 16 but had stopped after the crash and had also undertaken drug and alcohol counselling.

Salamander Bay couple Ron and Robyn Thomson were heading home from a lunch with friends when they were killed by drug-affected Damien Phillip Swan. Picture: Supplied.

Judge Harris said she accepted Swan was remorseful for his actions and had said he was angry and “disgusted in himself”.

He had written a letter to the court where he said he was “so sorry for everything” when addressing the Thomsons’ family.

The court heard last week that the Thomson family had rejected the argument that Swan was remorseful.

Judge Harris gave Swan a 25% discount for an early guilty plea to two charges of aggravated dangerous driving causing death.

She sentenced Swan to five years’ jail for each of the deaths and partially accumulated his sentence to a maximum of seven-and-a-half years jail with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years.

The sentence was backdated because Swan had served some time on remand before being granted bail.

He will be eligible for parole on May 5, 2026.