Jack Brian Goonan: Court hears detail before crash that killed Alexandra footballer Jordan Purcell

A group of friends spent the night drinking before they got into a car and allegedly ran over a young country footballer at Alexandra, and kept driving.

A country football club was torn apart after group of friends spent the night drinking before they got into a car and allegedly ran over their teammate, and kept driving, a court has heard.

The driver, Jack Brian Goonan, 23 at the time, faced Wangaratta Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with culpable driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop — among a string of charges.

Jordan Purcell, 20 of Alexandra, was found dying in the middle of an Alexandra road on June 16, 2019.

He died on the way to hospital.

During a committal hearing on Wednesday, four passengers connected to a football club in Alexandra said they had spent the night drinking before getting into Goonan’s Toyota Hilux.

Dr Sanjeev Gaya, a forensic physician at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, said Mr Goonan allegedly recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.103 the morning after the incident.

When asked his opinion on whether Mr Goonan would have been able to drive safely at the time of the alleged collision, he said: “All the scientific evidence suggests the person is unable to have control over the motor vehicle.”

“My view, irrespective of the manner of driving, or the witnesses demeanor of the person, is it is highly likely that an individual harbouring this range of alcohol is not able to have proper control of a vehicle.

“In this blood alcohol range, the driver with a blood alcohol in that range will not be able to have proper control of a motor vehicle.”

Jordan Purcell was killed in an alleged hit-run incident on June 16.

Jordan Purcell was remembered as a talented, “spirited” young footballer.

The court heard the group, including Mr Goonan and Mr Purcell, had been drinking at a football function in Alexandra before leaving around midnight to drink at a friend’s house.

Isaac Hedger, a passenger in the car, said it was a “spur of the moment decision” for Mr Goonan to drive the 5-10 minute journey.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea at the time, but I don’t know,” Mr Hedger said.

Bethany Cairns told the court “in hindsight, it was unsafe to drive in the fog at the time”, but said she thought it was safe at the time.

Several passengers in the car said they recalled hitting something — but they thought it was a cat or a pothole.

When going around the corner of Rose and Neil streets, Ms Cairns said someone in the car said: “What the f*** was that?”, felt a bump, laughed and said “Maybe it was a cat”.

Jordan Richards said he felt a “nudge”, while another passenger, Harrison Murdoch, told the court he was too drunk to remember.

The group told the court they attended the party despite assuming they collided with something.

The man who found Mr Purcell was on his way home from his daughter’s house about 12.10pm.

He said conditions were foggy and when he saw Mr Purcell he “thought he was asleep” but called an ambulance when realising the severity of the situation.