Trucking administrator Cris Large’s conviction wiped on appeal

A Sydney manager at a trucking company whose drug-affected driver killed four police officers in a horror crash has had his conviction wiped on appeal, with a judge saying the charge was always doomed.

Cris Large has been acquitted after he was sentenced for a Heavy Vehicle National Law offence in the wake of a horror crash which killed four police. Picture: 7News

The national operations manager of a Sydney trucking company whose drug-affected driver killed four Victorian police officers in a horrific crash has had his jail term wiped on appeal, with a judge finding the sentencing magistrate was “unconsciously influenced” by the tragedy.

In May 2023, Cris Large was found guilty of a single offence under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, which pertains to incidents where any person in the “chain of responsibility for a heavy vehicle” exposes anyone to the risk of death or serious injury.

At the time, he was the national operations manager of Connect Logistics, the employer of Mohinder Singh when he crashed his semi-trailer on a Melbourne freeway in April 2020 and tragically killed four Victorian police officers.

Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King and constables Josh Prestney and Glen Humphris lost their lives in the crash, as Mr Singh was impaired by illicit drugs and fatigue.

Mr Large was the first person in a managerial position to ever be charged with this kind of offence – and he has now been acquitted after a District Court appeal.

Constable Glen Humphris and Senior Constable Kevin King.

Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor and Constable Joshua Prestney.

A magistrate had found Mr Large had failed to comply with his duty in enforcing fatigue management systems, and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment with a one-year non-parole period.

This assessment pertained to the inadequate application of fatigue management systems generally, the falsification of timesheets for one driver, an incident in which a different fatigued driver ran a red light, and a further driver who worked in breach of fatigue management requirements.

Cris Large. Picture: 7News

But at Sydney District Court on December 2, Judge Mark Williams said the offence for which Mr Large was convicted was “not known to law”.

“It does not appear to me that there was any principled basis for imposing a term of full time imprisonment,” Judge Williams said.

“With considerable respect for the learned magistrate, one is left with an uneasy feeling that … the unfortunate and tragic deaths of the four police officers impermissibly led to the magistrate imposing a sentence containing an element of assuaging the grief of the family members of the deceased officers.”

Judge Williams acknowledged the sentence proceedings on January 23 were “undoubtedly … difficult and emotional”.

Fatal truck crash driver Mohinder Singh. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

“The magistrate appeared to be influenced, at least unconsciously, by the tragic

circumstances,” Judge Williams said.

“The magistrate’s reasons on sentence, it seems to me, were unduly concerned with the proposition four deaths had occurred, rather than focusing on the risk-based offence found proved, notwithstanding the acknowledgment the accused was not directly

involved.”

However, Judge Williams said Mr Large’s failure to comply with fatigue management systems would have been “a serious example of offending” under a different section of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, if it had been capable of being prosecuted.

He said he would have sentenced Mr Large to a two-year community corrections order with 250 hours of community service if the matter had been prosecuted under the different section.

Mr Large’s conviction was quashed and he was acquitted, with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ultimately consenting to reimburse an unknown amount of his legal costs.