Committal hearing for Daylesford pub crash driver William Swale begins

One of the first people on the scene of the crash that killed five people at Royal Daylesford Hotel said the driver looked “like he was wasted” as he sat in his BMW in the aftermath of the tragedy.

A Daylesford hospitality worker who saw a car plough into a beer garden, killing five people, says the diabetic driver looked “bloody awful” and “like he was wasted”.

William Herbert Swale, 67, allegedly ignored nine phone alerts notifying him his blood-glucose levels were low in the hour before he crashed into patrons outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel on the afternoon of November 5 last year.

Pratibha Sharma, 44, nine-year-old daughter Anvi, and partner Jatin Kumar, 30, along with Vivek Bhatia, 38, and son Vihaan, 11, were killed

Martin Hinck, a Winespeake Cellar + Deli employee, told Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday he was on the scene within a minute of the crash. He said he approached a BMW SUV that had come to a stop near a roundabout, and observed Mr Swale, who was motionless in his seat, looking “like he was wasted”.

William Swale is facing five counts of culpable driving causing death. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“My recollection is that (his skin) was quite flushed in colour, his mouth was open and his eyes were closed,” he told the first day of Mr Swale’s committal hearing. In a police statement tendered to court, he described Mr Swale as looking “bloody awful”.

Paramedic Michael Barker, who arrived on scene within 10 minutes of the crash, told the court he assessed Mr Swale to be in an “altered conscious state”.

“He wasn’t opening his eyes, his verbal response was incomprehensible,” he said.

Mr Barker said that Mr Swale’s blood-glucose levels were extremely low at 1.1 millimoles per litre which was consistent with a severe hypo­glycaemic attack. “The traj­ect­ory without any inter­vention is to go into a coma and subsequently (death),” he said.

Flower tributes at the scene of the tragedy outside the The Royal Daylesford Hotel. Picture: Helena Powell

Mr Swale (right) arrives at the Ballarat Law Courts with his lawyer Martin Amad. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Digital forensics expert Luke Jennings, who analysed Mr Swales’ iPhone, said he first received a low blood-glucose level alert at 5.18pm – 49 minutes before the crash. He said several further alerts were sent but the data did not indicate if Mr Swale observed or interacted with them.

General practitioner Phillip Feren told the court Mr Swale was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1994 and had been his patient since 1998.

He said Mr Swale had regular consultations with an endocrinologist – a diabetes specialist – who found he had “excellent control” of his condition, though he did have occasional hypoglycaemia epi­sod­es at night and before meals.

Mr Swale’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, said there was “no dispute” his client suffered a severe medical episode at the time of the crash. However, he foreshadowed an allegation of negligence would be made in relation to his decision to drive.

Vivek Bhatia and his eldest son were killed in the tragedy. His wife Ruchi and youngest son were injured but survived. Picture: Facebook

Other witnesses to give evidence included competitors from a shooting tournament at Clunes, which Mr Swale competed in on the day before the crash.

One man noted Mr Swale had an “unconventional” shooting style. Mr Dann questioned the relevance of their evidence given the case was about a fatal crash.

Mr Swale sat behind his lawyers in the front row of the court. His wife and children were beside him, while loved ones of the victims were seated two rows back.

The preliminary hearing is designed to test evidence before a case can proceed to trial in a higher court. Mr Swale is charged with five counts of culpable driving causing death, two counts of negligently causing serious injury, and seven counts of reckless conduct endangering life.

The hearing continues Tuesday.