Brodie Smith failed to check his ladder was secure prior to fatal crash
Craig ‘Wardy’ Ward was killed when a ladder fell from a trailer on the M1. His family provided a heartbreaking statement in court after the man responsible’s sentencing.
Police & Courts
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CRAIG ‘Wardy’ Ward was riding to work on his Harley when two aluminium ladders fell from a box trailer driven by Brodie Smith.
Mr Ward, 53, did his best to avoid the ladders but was struck by another car.
He later died.
Smith, a carpenter, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday for driving without due care and attention causing death.
He was sentenced to 200 hours community service and disqualified from driving for nine months.
During Smith’s sentencing, Mr Ward’s parents – Coral and Alan Ward – provided a heartbreaking victim impact statement.
Craig was a brother, an uncle and our son.
It is very difficult to express just what the loss of Craig is to us, as he was everything.
Craig had a beautiful gentle nature and a great sense of humour. He loved his family, his work of 14 years and his mates. He owned his townhouse and had no debts. Riding his Harley gave him the greatest of pleasures.
Apart from Craig being a huge part of our family, we relied on Craig for his help in our everyday lives. There would be a phone call every week and a visit most weekends.
We would hear his Harley arrive and his smiling face appear at the door with a “Hi Mum and Dad, what needs doing today?”
Alan is 85 and I am 79. We thought Craig would be there to make sure we would be ok as we age. We don’t have that reassurance now. Our daughter and her husband reside in Cambodia and unable to just drop by. We now have to replan our future. Do we go into a retirement village etc.
The shock of his accident has led to so many tears and sadness, sleepless nights and the heartbreak still continues.
The public way his death was handled by the media was incredibly difficult. I was unable to watch the television as the horrific scene of his death were shown so often. The nights are very long and visions not good.
Craig or ‘Wardy’ as he was known to his friends, touched so many lives, his volunteering at the Food Barn on Saturday mornings, driving the returned veterans on Anzac Day in his EH, helping folk in his village, taking part in fund raising on his rides. Above all he was a caring and giving person.
He gave to us and we, with broken hearts, have to come to terms that isn’t going to happen again.
The sadness we feel knowing that his life was taken far too early is soul wrenching.
We held no malice to anyone at this terrible time.
Alan and I wan tot thank those who were at the scene of the accident and those who have shown such sympathy, and kindness to us.”
‘Sleepless nights’ for family after M1 ladder tragedy
A GOLD Coast carpenter whose ladder fell off the back of his trailer on the M1 leading to the death of a motorcyclist may have been the victim of an attempted theft.
Brodie Troy Smith was driving his ute and trailer on the M1 at Nerang on November 2 last year when two aluminium ladders fell from the back.
Motorcyclist Craig Ward, of Merrimac, tried to avoid one of the ladders but was struck by another car. He later died.
Smith, 40, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday to driving without due care and attention causing death.
Magistrate Kerry Magee sentenced Smith to 200 hours’ community service and disqualified him from driving for nine months. No conviction was recorded.
Magistrate Magee said she accepted Smith had checked his load the last time he used the trailer and the ladders had been secured.
The court was told Smith did not check the ladders that morning on his way to work.
“That failure has had devastating consequences and there is no sentence I can impose that will alleviate the suffering of Mr Ward’s family,” she said.
Magistrate Magee accepted that Smith’s wife had reported the front gate had been unexpectedly open the morning of the fatal crash.
“That drew the conclusion that the ladders were maybe unsecured in potential theft.”
Magistrate Magee said nevertheless Smith should have checked the ladders were secured before he left his home.
“By failing to ensure the ladders were secured you set in motion a series of events that led to tragedy,” she said.
Magistrate Magee summed up a victim impact statement from Mr Ward’s parents.
“They thought their son would be there to make sure they would be okay as they aged,” she said.
“The shock of the accident has caused many tears and sadness, sleepless nights.”
Mr Ward, 53, was described by workmates at the Oceanic Group at the time as a “wonderful man”.
“He was outgoing, fun-loving. He loved his motorbike and loved coming to work,” one told the Bulletin.
“He was always a lot of fun, everyone liked him – a good fellow. He’d been working with us for years.”
On Thursday, Magistrate Magee accepted that Smith was remorseful for his actions.
Smith wrote a letter of apology to Mr Ward’s family.
Magistrate Magee said she would not read that letter out in court as it was up to Mr Ward’s family if they read the letter or not.
Smith remained silent as he left Southport Courthouse.
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