Just two years? Injustice lingers as freedom looms for killer driver

On the day Ken Altoft’s family will stop to mourn his death, and remember his life, his killer is set to walk free.

Sharon Altoft at her home on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen.

On the day Ken Altoft’s family will stop to mourn his death, and remember his life, his killer is set to walk free.

Altoft was on traffic duties at roadworks on the Bruce Highway on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on November 7, 2017, when a car travelling close to 100km/h over the speed limit ploughed into him. His family thought it was as good as murder, but District Court judge David Andrews gave the driver, Aron Duffy, six years’ jail with a minimum of two for dangerous driving causing death.

Parole eligibility was set by the judge as the date of the second ­anniversary of Altoft’s death and Duffy’s arrest.

Altoft, with Ken and granddaughter Charli. Picture: Supplied

Queensland’s parole board has now written to Altoft’s wife, Sharon, to say that Duffy’s parole is coming up and informing her of the right to object. She has urged that his release be delayed, sending in victim impact statements and letters from Altoft’s family and wide circle of friends.

They had fought unsuccessfully for an appeal against the sentence, and are highly critical of the prosecution’s treatment of them and handling of the case.

“It’s like a slap in the face to Ken,” Ms Altoft said. “Was his life worth that? Not even the respect to try and do the court process properly?”

The case raises wider issues about the sentencing of drivers who turn cars into deadly weapons and comes as a retired judge calls for better treatment of victims and their families. John Robertson was a Queensland District Court judge for 24 years and says drivers who kill are among the toughest ­offenders to sentence, putting them on par with serious child sex offenders in terms of the impact on all involved.

Mr Robertson, chairman of the Queensland Sentencing Advisory­ Council, wants victims’ families to be treated with greater respect and ­offered better support. “I’ve never been convinced that a severe punishment necessarily takes away their pain,” he said. “We do a lot more for victims and families of victims now than we did when I started in the law. But we should do a lot more.”

Ken Altoft. Picture: Supplied

In the 12 years to July 2017, the longest sentence for dangerous driving causing death in Queensland was nine years, despite a 14-year maximum.

Duffy, who had a long criminal history, pleaded guilty to the charge and to drug-driving.

“They didn’t take it … as serious­ly as it should have been taken,” Ms Altoft said. “That day in the courtroom, I hadn’t met the prosecutor. I hadn’t met my liaison­ or anything before we went to court. Not having anything to do with the court system before in my life, you don’t really know what to expect. I would have ­expected some sort of respect­, which we didn’t get.”

In court, Altoft’s family listened­ as the prosecutor cited prior dangerous driving cases. “The cases they were comparing it to, we’re just sitting in court in disbelief, thinking it’s not even the same,” Ms Altoft said.

Following a particularly disturb­ing killer driver case, Mr Robertson adopted a practice of personally addressing victims’ families in court. “The criminal justice system is a very crude instrume­nt for dealing with these sorts of cases because they’re so nuanced … and the circumstances vary so greatly,” he said.