Garry Barker fronts court over dangerous driving causing death

A retired police senior sergeant who fatally mowed down a 76-year-old woman just 500m from her home at a pedestrian crossing claimed he didn’t see her.

Retired police Senior Sergeant Garry Barker mowed down pedestrian Catharina Shacklock with a tip truck at a pedestrian crossing at Blackburn North in August 2022.

A former senior police officer of more than four decades who admitted fatally mowing down an elderly woman at a pedestrian crossing is relying on his unblemished record to avoid jail.

Former senior sergeant Garry Barker, 75, appeared in the County Court for a plea hearing on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to one charge of dangerous driving causing the death of 76-year-old Catharina Shacklock just 500m from her home at Wantirna.

He has been remanded in bail to appear for sentencing at a later date.

Court documents showed Barker had been carting sand from a construction site in Blackburn Rd in a tipper truck owned by his employer Reverse Pools on August 2, 2022 when he failed to give way to Ms Shacklock.

When the traffic light at the intersection of Williams and Springfield roads turned green, Barker accelerated to turn right while the “Give way to pedestrian” flashed.

Ms Shacklock had taken several steps onto the pedestrian crossing when she was struck by the front driver’s side of the truck and was slightly lifted off the ground and knocked over.

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

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.

Barker got out of the truck and remained at the scene. 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.

Ms Shacklock suffered life-threatening injuries and died six week later at Eastern Health Wantirna.

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.”

Retired cop Garry Barker outside County Court after a plea hearing.

His lawyer Charles Morgan submitted that a non-custodial sentence was appropriate and referred to Barker’s more than 40 years of service as a police Senior Sergeant with an unblemished record and his age.

Prosecutor Penelope Thorp said Barker’s driving was dangerous and that general deterrence was required to ensure other drivers, especially those driving heavy vehicles, followed the law so that innocent people were not tragically killed.