‘Accident waiting to happen’: Killer driver who fled crash jailed

A Morwell man with a shocking driving history has been jailed after he fled the scene of a crash while a dying woman lay trapped in her car.

Carol-Anne Jones died 16 days after a Nissan Patrol driven by Brenton Brown collided with her vehicle in Tanjil South.

A judge says a killer driver who twice fled the scene of a crash as a dying woman lay trapped in her car was an “accident waiting to happen”.

Brenton Brown, 31, was on Friday jailed for five years and seven months after he crossed on to the wrong side of the road and crashed into a Hyundai Accent driven by Carol-Anne Jones in Tanjil South, near Moe, in May last year.

As Ms Jones, 59, lay trapped in her vehicle with serious injuries, Brown — who was unlicensed and on bail — fled on foot.

He returned a short time later to retrieve ID from his unregistered Nissan Patrol, before fleeing a second time without checking on the injured woman.

Ms Jones was flown to The Alfred but died in the intensive care unit 16 days later from complications from her injuries.

Morwell man Brenton Brown has been jailed.

In her sentencing remarks, County Court Judge Robyn Harper said Brown had an extensive criminal history including an “appalling” number of serious driving offences.

“Your driving was an accident waiting to happen,” she said.

“What could not be foreseen however, was your cowardly conduct in leaving the scene, returning to get your ID and leaving again.

“It is unfathomable that you would leave a seriously injured person trapped in a vehicle, not once but twice.”

At a pre-sentence hearing last month, Amanda Lawrie-Jones spoke of the “what-ifs” that played on her mind after her sister’s death.

“What if he stayed at the scene and called for help, would she have lived?” she said.

“What if he was not let out on bail, would this still have happened to her?

“These questions play over in my head daily. I get angry and I cry every day.”

Other family members described Ms Jones as a much-loved sister, daughter and friend whose loss had caused them immense suffering.

In a letter to Ms Jones’ family, Brown admitted he acted like a coward and apologised for not helping her.

Judge Harper accepted he had taken responsibility for his actions and shown remorse but found his prospects of rehabilitation were poor given his driving history.

The court previously heard Brown, from Morwell, had a disadvantaged upbringing marked by family violence and substance use.

Brown pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop, failing to render assistance and other bail and driving offences.

He must serve 3½ years of his sentence before he will be eligible for parole.
His licence was also disqualified for four years.

Two months before the crash, Brown was wounded in an unsolved shooting in the Latrobe Valley area.

He did not report the shooting to police and did not co-operate with officers investigating what happened to him.