Salamander Bay crash victims Ron and Robyn Thomson’s family confront Damien Phillip Swan over deaths

Children of Ron and Robyn Thomson have told a sentencing hearing about their shattered lives after the couple were killed at Salamander Bay by a driver stoned on cannabis who should not have been driving.

Damien Phillip Swan was stoned on cannabis, speeding and shouldn’t have been behind the wheel when he attempted to pass a car in an inside lane and caused a crash which killed Port Stephens couple Ron and Robyn Thomson.

On Thursday, Swan was forced to listen to two sobering victim impact statements as some of the Thomsons’ devastated children opened their broken hearts.

Leanne Godfrey and Neil Thomson refused to utter Swan’s name during their heart-wrenching statements read to Newcastle District Court during sentencing proceedings.

Damien Swan outside Newcastle Local Court. Picture: Amy Ziniak

Swan has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated dangerous driving causing death after the crash which killed Ron, 80, and Robyn, 77, at Salamander Bay on August 26, 2020.

“People try to be thoughtful and try to say the right thing,” Mrs Godfrey wrote.

“It‘s good that they went together; but they didn’t. Dad was dead instantly and removed from the car as mum was critically injured and trapped in an upturned car, unable to be treated until she was cut out.

“They had long lives; it shouldn‘t matter if it’d be one day or 20 years left to live, it was still stolen from them.

Salamander Bay couple Ron and Robyn Thomson had been together 60 years and retired to Salamander Bay in 2004. They were killed when drug driver Damien Phillip Swan hit their car on Port Stephens Drive on August 26, 2020. Picture: Supplied.

“It was an accident; it wasn‘t. He made choices that day which led to what happened and those people around him had knowingly made choices not to intervene.

“People talk about their death but to me they were killed.

“I don‘t say that they died. I can only say that they were killed.

“I can‘t picture them at peace. I can only think of the horror and the pain as they died trapped in a car.’’

The Thomsons, who had been together for 60 years and retired to Salamander Bay in 2004 before quickly becoming a significant part of the community, had been to lunch with friends when Robyn began driving home.

Ron was safety conscious and even though he would only ever have a single beer at lunch, he would never drive home.

The scene of the crash. Picture: Peter Lorimer

The couple wouldn’t know their paths were about to cross a man with little regard for others’ safety on the roads.

Swan had driven from Tanilba Bay, more than 30km away, while affected by cannabis.

His erratic driving was seen leading up to the roundabout at the intersection where Salamander Way turns into Soldiers Point Road at Port Stephens Drive.

“The impact that the choices he made [that day] have left me and my family shattered,” Mrs Godfrey said.

“Those choices were selfish. And wrong. It wasn‘t just one bad decision, it was long-term wrong choices made with no regard to the safety of others.

“The result was horrific for my parents and their family and friends.

The damage on Swan’s car shows the impact when he careered into the car carrying Ron and Robyn Thomson. Picture: Peter Lorimer

“It is made more horrific by the thought that it will one day be a long forgotten memory for him and we will still be suffering the consequences daily.

“It has left me broken, sad and lonely but I feel more for my children.

“I hope that they will soon find some peace and be able to remember happier times and not act in a way that causes more harm to themselves.

“Everything is different now. Me, my life, my family, my children, our future. It has all changed.

“Everything was taken from me and I will never get it back.”

The scene of the crash. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Neil Thomson said his life changed forever the moment he heard his parents had been killed.

“I’m angry. I will be for a long time to come,” he wrote.

“Angry, devastated, sad, destroyed. All because of one person.”

The court heard Swan, a long-term cannabis abuser who had suffered seizures for more than two decades, should not have been driving when he caused the crash.

It also heard he had written an apology to the Thomsons’ family, through the court, and had shown remorse.

The Thomson family disagreed.

Judge Sharon Harris will sentence Swan on Monday.