Grieving dad fronts court after messages to stranger demanded answers about dead son
“My son is dead and I don’t know why”: A grieving father sobbed in the Gympie court as the messages demanding answers about a car crash that killed his 15-year-old son were read aloud.
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A grieving father sobbed in the Gympie court on Monday as a series of messages he sent following the tragic death of his 15-year-old son in a car accident were read out to the court.
Amamoor man Robert Taylor, 49, pleaded guilty to using Facebook to send the menacing messages, and to disobeying a direction given by a police officer.
As the messages were read out to the court, his head was bowed and he sobbed.
Police prosecutor Michael Phillips told the court Taylor’s son was killed in a car accident on May 7, but three other men in the car survived the crash.
He said two days after the crash, Taylor reached out to a woman on Facebook, asking if she knew who the other boys in the car had been the night his son was killed.
The victim told him she knew, but that she was reluctant to share the information as she did not know who he was.
“The defendant has then responded, ‘well, you do you want to f------ give it out because I’m a dad and I need answers’,” Sgt Phillips said.
“You will tell me, or I will find you and you will tell me.
“My son is dead and I don’t know why.”
Sgt Phillips said the victim then told Taylor to call the police, as she was not going to give him the answers he wanted.
“You know info and I will get it, one way or another, your choice,” Sgt Phillips read out to the court.
He said this made the victim fearful Taylor was going to harm her or her family, and she contacted police.
Sgt Phillips said Taylor failed to go to the police station to identify particulars on June 10.
Defence lawyer Chris Anderson said his client’s mother died three weeks after his son, which had impacted his client greatly.
Magistrate Chris Callaghan said he had great sympathy for Taylor’s situation, but noted Taylor was on parole at the time of the offences for assault occasioning bodily harm.
He was fined $400 and a conviction was recorded.
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