Tyrheson Meihana Clarke guilty of DUI crash at Pimpama that almost killed his mate
A young car detailer who consumed alcohol at Coomera’s Boathouse Tavern before being involved in a high-speed crash at Pimpama in which one of his passengers almost died, has learnt his fate.
A young car detailer who consumed alcohol at a pub before being involved in a high-speed crash at Pimpama in which one of his passengers almost died has learnt his fate.
Tyrheson Meihana Clarke, 20, a former resident of Coomera, appeared in Southport Magistrates Court on November 27, where he pleaded guilty to five charges, most seriously driving without due care and attention causing grievous bodily harm.
That charge was downgraded from the more serious dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm, which would have required Clarke to face the District Court.
The other four charges he admitted to were driving over the general alcohol limit as a learner driver, failing to display L-plates and driving without a supervising driver, and failing to ensure passengers comply with seatbelt requirements.
All offences stemmed from a collision that occurred on William Blvd at Pimpama about 1am on June 30 last year.
The court heard Clarke, who was aged 18 at the time and still a learner driver, had consumed three drinks at Coomera’s Boathouse, and was in the process of dropping his friends off when the crash occurred.
Clarke, driving a Holden Commodore wagon containing four passengers, one of whom was the defendant’s girlfriend, was estimated by a witness to be travelling close to 100km/h when he rounded a bend and almost collided with another vehicle.
As he was travelling too fast to brake to avoid the collision – the court heard Clarke had been pinged for speeding just the day prior to the near-fatal crash – he instead accelerated around the other car, which caused him to lose control and slam into a retaining wall.
Clarke and two of his passengers were transported to Gold Coast University Hospital, while two other patients were assessed at the scene.
The court heard one of the passengers, a 19-year-old Pimpama man who is now aged 20, suffered “life-threatening” injuries including a fractured skull, multiple brain bleeds, and a pulmonary embolism.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Blair Casey described the offending as a “plain act of stupidity”.
He noted, however, that body-worn camera footage from attending police captured Clarke’s immediate remorse: “He can see he’s made a terrible mistake,” Sergeant Casey concluded.
Defence lawyer Dayne Baskerville-Hodge told the court his client, who now lived and worked in Western Australia as a self-employed car detailer, retained the support of his three injured friends and his girlfriend, who he remains in a relationship with.
Mr Baskerville-Hodge said his client was “beside himself” with remorse after the collision, and suffered “significant psychological stress” that necessitated a period of time away from his previous employment at a Bunbury, WA-based mining sector labour-hire firm.
The lawyer also stressed his client’s young age and lack of criminal history.
Magistrate Dominic Brunello said character references tendered on Clarke’s behalf revealed the defendant to be a “respectful, law-abiding, hardworking, decent, family-oriented, generous young man”.
He told Clarke to thank his lucky stars the prosecution agreed to downgrade the charge, as the “facts placed before me are difficult to divorce from dangerous driving [as opposed to driving with due care and attention]”.
“I’m sure you are aware that had this charge not been downgraded, you would have been going to jail in the District Court,” Magistrate Brunello said.
He placed Clarke on an 18-month probation order, fined him $1000, ordered he pay his most seriously injured friend $1500 in compensation, and disqualified his licence for 13 months.
No conviction was recorded for the driving without due care and attention charge, but convictions were recorded for the remaining four traffic charges.
