Shaun Duggan sentenced for 2021 collision that killed Jamie Stomilovic

The man responsible for a horror collision in Balliang has been sentenced, with his victim’s family telling the court of their heartbreak.

Jamie Stomilovic was killed in a collision in 2021 in Balliang.

The man responsible for a fatal collision west of Melbourne in 2021 has said his trauma will ensure the accident is “never over”.

Shaun Duggan, 46, appeared in the County Court this week on one charge of dangerous driving causing death, to which he pleaded guilty, where he was jailed for eight months.

Jamie Stomilovic, 28, was killed while he was driving to work about 5.45am on November 29 along Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Rd in Balliang when Duggan failed to give way at the intersection of Reddens Rd.

Mr Stomilovic’s mother broke down in court on Thursday, saying she was a “member of a club she never wanted to be a part of”.

“Today no longer matters, tomorrow there is no future and yesterday is a blur,” she said.

“Everyone’s life goes on but mine feels like it stopped back on the 29th of November, 2021 when his heart stopped beating.”

Some of Mr Stomilovic’s family attended the crash scene and described the horror of what they saw.

Mr Stomilovic’s father said his car was “almost unrecognisable”.

“I felt sick when I arrived at the site. I dropped to my knees,” he said.

“I wasn’t allowed to say goodbye to my son.”

Mr Stomilovic’s brother said the memory of having to call his mother to tell her Jamie was gone was permanently etched in his mind.

Mr Stomilovic was described by his friends and family as “kind, charismatic” and “hard working”.

He loved adventure and the outdoors, and his brother said he “now surfs alone” because Jamie was the only one with whom he would ever surf.

One of Mr Stomilovic's brothers was in the middle of planning his wedding when Jamie was killed and said he was “constantly questioning” if they should go ahead with the wedding.

“There were continuous reminders he would not be there standing as one of my groomsmen,” he said.

“There are endless reminders of what life should have been.”

Judge John Smallwood said it was a “dreadful” set of circumstances in which the lives of two young men were ruined.

“It was just two guys going out to work,” he said.

He also said the victim impact statements were “very powerful” and should be played at “every road trauma course”.

Mr Stomilovic’s mother said her son “should be here with her”.

“Instead my son is a pile of ashes laying in an urn on his bedside table,” she said.

“He is not just a statistic or another number; he was my precious son.”

Mr Stomilovic’s grandmother said her “heart was broken” and would never again be whole.

“When your heart is broken it is so hard to live knowing it will never be whole again,” she said.

“If love could have kept Jamie with us he would have lived forever.”

The court heard Duggan remained at the scene, flagged down another driver to call emergency services, and took his own shirt off to try to stop Mr Stomilovic from bleeding out.

He told police he “just didn’t see” the victim before the collision at the rural intersection, where, the court heard, there might have been visibility problems such as long grass.

The court was told Duggan thinks about the incident every day, sleeping only three hours a night and waking up from nightmares about the crash.

It was said his thinking was “dominated by thoughts of the victim” and a psychologist was of the view that Duggan would “never recover”.

Duggan himself reportedly declared that “it’ll never be over”.

During sentencing on Friday, Judge Smallwood told Duggan the collision had caused “massive grief to the family of the deceased man”, but also had “effectively ruined your life as well”.

Duggan wrote Mr Stomilovic’s family an apology letter and said he hoped his imprisonment would bring them some relief.