DPP appeals home detention for Wayne Hunt over death of 11-year-old Daemarius Purcell-Appo

Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC said three months in jail followed by nine months’ home detention was ‘manifestly inadequate’ for the little boy’s death in the lead up to Christmas.

Wayne Hunt is due to be released into home detention this month. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Prosecutors are appealing the sentence of a man who was jailed for three months after killing an 11-year-old boy by crashing into him at the Moulden shops five days before Christmas.

Wayne Hunt pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in January to dangerous driving causing the death of Daemarius Purcell-Appo on December 20, 2022.

The court heard Hunt was high on cannabis and driving an unmodified Dodge Ram ute in contravention of his licence conditions when he fatally pinned the little boy against a wall.

Justice Meredith Huntingford handed the 55-year-old a three-month jail sentence followed by a stint in home detention in February, saying he had “made two fatal errors” on the day.

“You turned the dial gear selector to drive and when you realised the vehicle was moving forward you depressed the accelerator instead of the brake,” she said.

“It was the combination of those two errors that led to this accident.”

But Justice Huntingford said she did not accept the crash “was a case of momentary inattention”, with Hunt’s intoxication determined to be equal to a blood-alcohol reading of between 0.05 and 0.1.

In suspending Hunt’s time behind bars after three months, Justice Huntingford said there was evidence of genuine remorse, including a doctor’s description of him suffering from “harrowing forms of remorse and guilt”.

Wayne Hunt shields his face from the camera outside the Supreme Court in February. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“(One of your referees) also says that she’s spoken with you about the shame, guilt and heartache that you have suffered as a result of the realisation that you have taken a young boy’s life,” she said.

“It has to be acknowledged that no penalty which the court can impose would be commensurate with the loss that has been suffered.”

In a notice of appeal filed with the court in March, Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC argues the sentence was “manifestly inadequate in all the circumstances”.

Mr Babb argues Justice Huntingford also erred in finding Hunt’s time in custody would be “considerably more onerous” than for others as “that finding was not open on the evidence”.

“The learned sentencing judge erred in ordering that the respondent’s head sentence be suspended after three months upon him entering into a home detention order for a period of nine months,” he wrote.

“The appellant seeks orders that the appeal be allowed, that the sentence imposed by (Justice Huntingford) on 16 February 2024 be set aside and that the court re-sentence the respondent according to law.”