Joshua Stoll fronts court for causing a crash and injuring his passenger

A Leongatha concreter has been hauled before court after he stacked his car while drunk, rolling 15m down an embankment, almost killing his mate.

Joshua Stoll has been jailed after getting behind the wheel while intoxicated and causing a crash that seriously injured his friend Matthew Bull.

A Leongatha concreter has been jailed for more than four years for causing a serious crash while intoxicated that left his friend with critical injuries.

Joshua Stoll appeared for sentencing in the County Court at Melbourne on Monday on a charge of negligently causing serious injury at Licola that seriously injured his front seat passenger Matthew Bull.

Stoll, 27, was sentenced to four years and three months imprisonment, with a minimum non parole of three years.

His family members attended court and chatted nonchalantly with him while he was flanked by a security officer in the dock.

Stoll appeared in a relaxed mood until the sentence was announced after which he began pacing in the dock.

Joshua Stoll had been drinking at the Windmill Campground in Licola before crashing a Holden Colorado and seriously injuring his friend Matthew Bull.

The crash happened on December 10, 2022 on Tamboritha Rd in Licola where Stoll failed to negotiate a bend and the Holden Colorado he was driving rolled 15m down an embankment.

Both men were not wearing seat belts and Stoll’s probationary licence was cancelled by the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court in March 2022.

Judge Michael McInerney said about six months prior to the crash, Stoll was convicted in the Magistrates Court for driving in a dangerous manner and sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order.

Despite still being the subject of that order, Judge McInerney said Stoll chose to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and his actions resulted in his front seat passenger suffering multiple fractures to his back and neck.

Mr Bull was placed in an induced coma at The Alfred and required physiotherapy to build up strength in his legs so he could walk again.

Joshua Stoll and his friend Matthew Bull were both not wearing their seat belt when the crash happened.

The court heard that prior to the crash, Stoll and Bull had been drinking at the Windmill Campground in Licola and decided to drive to a shop where the latter bought a Bundy can.

They then head south towards Licola when the crash happened. Mr Bull was ejected from the front passenger’s seat and struck his head on a boulder while Stoll was trapped in the driver’s seat but managed to free himself and flagged a passing motorist for help.

Stoll asked for a merciful sentence given his guilty plea, genuine remorse, relative youth, good prospects of rehabilitation and a 15-month delay to get to sentencing.

Judge McInerney said given the seriousness of the offence and Stoll’s driving history, a term of imprisonment was warranted.