Crash death driver's sentence disappoints families

THE fathers of two young basketballers killed in a car crash are disappointed the man whose driving caused their deaths will not spend more time in jail.

Stacey Richter and Stephanie Mylonas, the Toowoomba Mountaineers players who died in a car accident on August 19 last year.

THE fathers of two talented young basketballers killed in a car crash are disappointed the man whose driving caused their deaths will not spend more time in jail.

Jeremy Karl Crane, 29, yesterday pleaded guilty in Kingaroy District Court to the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle which caused the deaths of 20-year-old Stephanie Mylonas and 21-year-old Stacey Richter on August 19 last year.

He was sentenced to three and a half years jail, to be suspended after 10 months.

The court heard Crane was fatigued after not sleeping the night before the crash because he had taken amphetamines.

Crane was driving on the Burnett Hwy at Booubyjan when his car collided with a Toyota Prado being driven by Toowoomba basketballer Jodie Wright.

Miss Richter and Miss Mylonas as well as Ms Wright's two children were passengers in the Prado.

Pittsworth man Jimmy Mylonas' struggled to put his emotions into words after yesterday's sentence as he, his wife and their family began the next part of their grieving process.

"We just reckon it is too light," Mr Mylonas said.

"It doesn't change the fact that two lives have been lost.

"We are just bitterly disappointed."

He said his focus would now be to concentrate on the fond memories he had of his daughter.

"It will eat us up if we keep thinking about what he (Crane) had done."

Ms Wright, who was also in Kingaroy for the sentence, said it was a situation in which there were no winners.

She too was disappointed in the length of the sentence, but acknowledged Crane and his family had been through hell as well.

Her distress was detailed in a victim impact statement tendered to the court.

"I have been left with the guilt of not getting Steph and Stacey back to their families," Ms Wright said.

She also detailed the effects the crash had on her children.

"My son became aggressive afterwards and closed off, while my daughter was an emotional wreck who can't let go."

Miss Richter's father Graham Richter said he and his family felt let down by the sentence.

He said the sentence would not deter others from driving in the same manner.

"I just think people higher up have got to start looking at these things a little more seriously."

Crane's lawyer argued for a sentence at the lower end of three to five years, because the defendant had to live with the knowledge he caused distress to the victims' families and had a family of his own.

Originally published as Crash death driver's sentence disappoints families