Driver William Swale fronts court over Daylesford pub tragedy

The driver of a BMW that ploughed into a beer garden in Daylesford, killing five people, received nine alerts to treat his low blood sugar in the hour before the horror crash, a court has heard.

The insulin-dependent driver of a BMW that ploughed into the beer garden of a Daylesford pub last month received nine alarms to treat his low blood sugar in the hour before the crash that claimed the lives of five people, a court has heard.

The last alert came just one minute before the deadly smash, according to police.

William Herbert Swale has been charged with 14 offences over the deadly crash on November 5 and will remain behind bars until a decision is made on Friday over whether to grant him bail.

William Swale has fronted court over the Daylesford crash. Picture: Supplied

The 66-year-old appeared via video link in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday afternoon after he was charged earlier that morning over the horror crash.

Point Cook’s Pratibha Sharma, her nine-year-old daughter Anvi, and Sharma’s partner Jatin Chugh were all killed in the tragic incident, along with Vivek Bhatia and his 11-year-old son, from Tarneit.

The court on Monday heard that Mr Swale had a lengthy history of “excessive speeding”, with 32 fines and one criminal offence.

Charge sheets also revealed that Mr Swale faces multiple counts of reckless conduct by driving “whilst his blood glucose levels were low”.

The Mount Macedon man faces 14 charges, including five counts of culpable driving causing death and two counts of negligent driving causing injury.

A further seven charges of reckless conduct relate to putting seven other people in danger of death by driving with low glucose levels.

Pratibha Sharma her daughter Anvi and her partner Jatin Chugh were all killed when a car drove through a beer garden at Daylesford's Royal Hotel.

Police allege the crash was caused by the “failure of the accused to treat his blood glucose levels”, in that he “received and ignored a further eight notifications” after a first alert at 5.17pm.

But defence lawyer Martin Amad said: “That’s dependent on him receiving (the alerts) ... (and) returning to his vehicle knowing his levels are low”.

“This is fair and square a medical episode and whether or not he knew,” Mr Amad told the court, noting that was why his client would be pleading not guilty.

Sgt Romanis told the court that Mr Swale had checked his blood glucose on his app eight times earlier on November 5, with nine alerts later received in the hour before the crash.

Vivek Bhatia and his eldest son died in the crash, while his wife and young son were injured.

Prosecutors allege that despite the multiple alarms about his low blood glucose levels, Mr Swale continued to drive his vehicle before he lost control, running over a curb into a grass reserve where he collided with two tables, killing five victims and injuring others.

Shocked onlookers observed him appearing “sweaty, hot and clammy” as he remained in his vehicle after the collision, while witnesses ran to the aid of his alleged victims.

As he remained in the driver’s seat, the court heard a witness removed the keys from his ignition.

He spoke to police two days after the crash, and gave a no comment record of interview.

Mr Amad suggested his client was “in the midst of a medical episode during that time”.

“Clearly he was, yes,” Sgt Romanis replied.

Sgt Romanis said Mr Swale’s decision to return to his vehicle had “caused catastrophic and fatal consequences” to three families.

The policeman said Mr Swale has a conditional drivers licence due to his diabetes diagnosis, and had undergone an assessment in June where he was granted another two-year provisional permit.

VicRoads received a report that his diabetes was “well controlled” and he was hypoglycemic-aware, with an ability to manage symptoms such as tingling or sweating.

Mr Swale uses a blood glucose monitor via a mobile phone application that sends alarm notifications about his levels if they gets too high or too low.

Sgt Romanis said users who receive alarms have to cancel those alerts “like a wake up alarm” and check their blood glucose.

Data on Mr Swale’s app indicated that typically when his blood glucose levels drop, “they rise quickly by intervention by the accused”, the officer told the court.

Noting this, the defence lawyer stated that what occurred before the crash was “inconsistent with what he’s always done and the defence case will be there’s a reason for that”.

Prosecutor Mitchell Wilson said it was a “strong prosecution case” that would rely on medical evidence.

Speaking on the traffic infringements, Magistrate Brett Sonnet said they perhaps demonstrated “some contempt for road rules”.

In seeking bail for his client, Mr Amad submitted that Mr Swale was a low risk of reoffending and had family support.

He has no criminal history and had been living with diabetes since 1994.

Mr Sonnet ordered that he be remanded until a written decision on the application for bail could be handed down later this week, on December 15.

If he’s granted bail, Mr Swale would be banned from driving.

Culpable driving causing death carries a maximum jail term of 20 years.