Young dangerous driver shouts profanity after court appearance

A meth head who took his mum’s car for a spin and slammed into a van and seriously injured its driver yelled abuse in court as he was sentenced.

The aftermath of the August 2022 Cranbourne crash involving Zachary Holmes. Picture: 9 News

A man shouted profanities in court as his family broken down in tears he was jailed for causing a crash that left a delivery man with life-threatening spinal injuries.

Zachary Holmes, 21, appeared in the County Court for sentencing on Monday after pleading guilty to one charge of dangerous driving causing serious injury and another of failing to render assistance.

He was sentenced to three years’ jail, with a minimum non parole period of two years. A clearly frustrated Holmes could be heard swearing as he was being led away while his close family openly sobbed in court.

The crash, at the intersection of Gippsland Highway and Claremont Ave about 12.50pm on August 24 last year, left a 66-year-old male delivery driver of a Toyota HiLux van with months of recovery and rehabilitation.

Judge Andrew Palmer said Holmes was driving his mother’s 2004 sedan on the Gippsland Highway at 130km/h in an 80km/h zone.

As the driver of the Toyota HiLux started to turn right into Claremont Ave from Gippsland Highway, Holmes slammed into the passenger’s side of the turning vehicle.

Zachary Holmes handed himself in at the Cranbourne Police Station hours after causing a serious crash that seriously injured a delivery driver.

The impact caused the Toyota to tumble nearly 30m along the road before landing on its side outside a Covid-19 testing clinic.

Judge Palmer said Holmes got out of the sedan, ran to another car, jumped into the passenger’s seat and accelerated away. The female driver of that car has been charged with assisting his escape. Witnesses ran to assist the driver of the Toyota HiLux. He was not responding and his face was turning blue. Witnesses smelt petrol and climbed on to the top of the van, opened the driver’s door and pulled him out.

“While an ambulance was being called, you were fleeing the scene,” Judge Palmer said.

Holmes first went to the female driver’s sister’s house and was then driven to his father’s house in Werribee.

At one point during that journey, Holmes called police and said he was going to hand yourself in but hung up when he thought police were trying to track his location. His father contacted the Cranbourne police station about 6.15pm and arranged for Holmes to hand himself in which he did two hours later.

The injured driver was taken to The Alfred hospital with serious injuries to the spine and other parts of his body and spent about five weeks in the ICU before being discharged for rehabilitation at the Easter Private Hospital

In his victim impact statement, he described the serious emotional, financial and physical impacts of the crash that included his ability to work and care for his wife who suffers from a disability.

He also lamented social isolation and the joy of retiring after 50 years of hard work.

Judge Palmer said Holmes had a long history of drug use, including meth, and endured a difficult childhood marked by constantly moving houses and periods of homelessness.

However, he said Holmes’ difficult upbringing did not reduce his moral culpability and that there was no evidence to suggest he did not understand the repercussions of his offending.

“Although you were a young offender, offences of this kind are frequently committed by young offenders of an otherwise good character and with good prospects of rehabilitation. The tendency of you drivers to drive dangerously means that general deterrence remains of great importance,” Judge Palmer said.