Wantirna biker revealed as drug-dealing road menace
A CRASHED motorcyclist who cost a young mum her life when she tried to save him was a one-legged ice dealer on bail peddling drugs just hours before his final ride.
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EXCLUSIVE: A CRASHED motorcyclist who cost a young mum her life when she tried to save him was a one-legged ice dealer on bail who was peddling drugs just hours before his final ride.
Career criminal Troy Swinden, 37, was killed when his bike hit an Audi in Wantirna late on Monday night.
Local mum Emily, 27, was struck and killed by another car after she leapt from her own vehicle and ran to perform CPR on the fallen Swinden.
YOUNG MUM ‘GENUINELY CARING’, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ PERSON
She had just finished her shift at a nearby aged care home, and had phoned her husband to say “I love you” and “I’ll be home soon”.
Her final moments were spent trying to resuscitate Swinden, an ex-con with a long history of dangerous driving and drug offences.
Her family have remembered her as a “loving wife” and “devoted mother” to her son, 5, and daughter, 7.
Swinden’s leg was amputated and replaced with a prosthetic after a motorbike crash about two years ago.
An associate, Taylor Thomas, said she warned the father of two young girls that he would die or kill someone if he kept riding at “mad speeds.”
Court transcripts reveal Swinden had been charged with numerous dangerous driving offences. His licence was suspended many times.
He had been due to face court on October 17 on charges including driving while his authorisation was suspended, handling stolen goods, and dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
Swinden lived with his mum in Boronia. He had been jailed for driving offences and had been ordered to use an alcohol interlock device.
Ms Thomas said he had tried to sell her brother ice hours before the Wantirna crash, in which his bike smashed into an Audi with such force the car spun about 180 degrees.
Police found a white powder, believed to be drugs, in his pockets.
“He shouldn’t have been riding in the first place,” Ms Thomas said. “He rides like an idiot. I would always see him take off at mad speeds.
“I always said you are going to end up killing yourself, Troy, or someone else. And unfortunately that happened on Monday night. I have been dreading this moment … I knew it was going to come.”
A butane gas cartridge with the words “RIP Troy forever riding in our hearts”, and an energy drink can with spray-painted flowers, was left as a tribute at the crash site.
Swinden’s previous charges included driving under the influence of drugs, careless driving, trafficking methamphetamine, possessing a prohibited weapon, and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
In April, he was ordered to perform 75 hours of unpaid community service and submit to mandatory drug rehabilitation.
Swinden was travelling at “irresponsible and reckless” speeds well above the 80kmh limit when he smashed into an Audi turning right onto Boronia Rd from Amesbury Ave shortly after 10pm.
As Emily performed CPR on him she was hit by a passing Honda Prelude. Police believe its driver, a 32-year-old Boronia man, did not see her in the road.
Neither driver is expected to face charges.