Garry Barker fronts court over dangerous driving causing death

A retired senior sergeant who attended the scene of countless road fatalities including the death of his brother fatally mowed down a 76-year-old woman at a pedestrian crossing.

Retired Senior Sergeant Garry Barker has been sentenced to a community corrections order for mowing down pedestrian Catharina Shacklock with a tipper truck at a pedestrian crossing at Blackburn North.

A former police officer with more than four decades of service who fatally mowed down an elderly woman at a pedestrian crossing has avoided jail due to exceptional circumstances.

Garry Barker was sentenced in the County Court on Tuesday to an 18-month community corrections order after pleading guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of 76-year-old Catharina Shacklock just 500m from her home at Blackburn.

Barker, 75, was driving a tipper truck owned by his employer Reverse Pools on August 2, 2022 when he failed to give way to Ms Shacklock at the intersection of Williams and Springfield roads at Blackburn North.

She was struck by the front driver’s side of the truck and was slightly lifted off the ground and knocked over.

Barker drove over the top of her with the front and back driver’s side wheels of the truck.

She rolled twice and ended up in the recovery position. Ms Shacklock died from her injuries six week later at Eastern Health Wantirna.

Catharina Shacklock was fatally mowed down by a tipper truck, driven by retired cop Garry Barker, in Blackburn North.

Judge Michael O’Connell said exceptional and compelling circumstances had been made out where the court could look at imposing a non-custodial sentence.

He said those circumstances included Barker’s advanced age, his sick wife’s reliance on him, a lack of priors, excellent prospects of rehabilitation and precarious mental health.

Judge O’Connell said apart from witnessing the aftermath of road fatalities during his unblemished career as a police officer, he also mourned the death of his brother in similar circumstances.

He said Ms Shacklock’s death further worsened Barker’s mental health and he had since been diagnosed with PTSD which would worsen if he was sent to prison.

Judge O’Connell said of the nine collisions reported between 2013 and 2023 at the intersection where Ms Shacklock was hit, four resulted in serious injuries and two people died.

Retired cop Garry Barker leaves the County Court after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death.

Barker told officers at Forest Hill police station on February 9, 2023 that it was right at the point of impact that he first saw Ms Shacklock.

“Had there been any (pedestrians) coming towards me, I would have a good view of them because the windscreen on that little truck’s quite good,” he said.

“I didn’t see any pedestrians coming towards me and I didn’t see any pedestrians through the driver’s side window.”

A driver who saw that he was about to hit Ms Shacklock pressed his car horn three times in an attempt to warn Barker and her of the imminent crash.