Wife and children of Jack Aston eagerly await bus driver’s release from prison
Having served ten months behind bars for accidentally crashing a bus into the Montague St bridge in 2016, driver Jack Aston could walk free from prison as early as Monday — and his family can’t wait.
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After 10 months behind bars, the bus driver who accidentally crashed into the Montague St bridge just wants to dip his toes in the ocean.
Jack Aston — who could walk free from jail tomorrow after a Supreme Court appeal hearing — has vowed to never drive a bus again.
The 56-year-old father of two, whose hefty sentence over the non-fatal crash sparked community outrage, instead plans on working with his son selling spare vehicle parts.
Wife Wendy Aston told the Sunday Herald Sun Mr Aston survived on the inside by refusing to talk about jailhouse life.
The pair, from the Ballarat suburb of Brown Hill, hoped tonight would be his last in prison.
“The first thing he wants to do when get gets home is meet our new puppy Peach and see Flake the dog,” Mrs Aston said.
“He also wants to go to the beach and get in the water. It won’t matter if it’s 12 degrees.
“I think Jack will be very emotional walking through the front door … There will be a lot of tears.”
Mrs Aston already has her sights set on a family holiday to Burleigh Heads later this month.
“We’ll take the car. If it breaks down we’ll walk,” she said.
“That will give us a good chance to talk. We’ll throw the tent in the back, it won’t matter. We’ll take our time to get there.”
Mr Aston was found guilty of negligently causing serious injury and in December sentenced to a minimum 2½ years’ jail after his bus ploughed into South Melbourne’s Montague St bridge in February 2016, seriously injuring six people on their way to a conference.
The Court of Appeal this month quashed his conviction because of a prosecution blunder.
It was hoped he would be released on a community corrections order tomorrow.
“It has been tough, you’ve always been taught to do the right thing and it was really hard when we’ve always done the right thing,’’ Mrs Aston said.
“Everyone says when Jack returns, Brown Hill is going to be rocking.
“We are going to have a big party.
“He’s not going to want to miss any occasion. Because he’s missed it for a year, it will be more important for him.”
Mrs Aston and the couple’s children Meg and Ben have been frequent visitors at Loddon Prison, with Christmas morning especially hard. Even two hip replacements did not stop Mrs Aston seeing her husband of 24 years.
Mrs Aston said her husband kept a strict prison routine to stay occupied, exercising up to three hours a day.
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“When he got really down, he took on the bike and the rowing machine,” she said. “You could see the weight dropping off him — he lost 13kg.
The family hopes he will be home in time for the upcoming birthday of 19-year-old Ben, a spare parts manager who plans to work with his dad once he is released.