Toowoomba man Dale Pettman charged with dangerous operation of truck near Roma causing death

A regional Queensland truck driver has been charged for allegedly causing the death of a fellow truck driver in a head-on crash.

Dale Gordon Pettman at the Toowoomba Courthouse on Monday, May 13, after his legal team, briefed by Fisher Dore Lawyers, failed to have a forensic crash police officer barred from giving evidence at his trial for the alleged dangerous operation of a truck causing death in 2021.

A Toowoomba truck driver has been charged for allegedly causing the death of a fellow truck driver in a head-on crash north of Roma in 2021.

Dale Gordon Pettman was travelling southbound on the Carnarvon Highway at Gunnewin in a Kenworth truck carting oranges when he allegedly crashed into a truck travelling in the opposite direction.

Dale Gordon Pettman at the Toowoomba Court House after his legal team failed to have a forensic crash police officer barred from giving evidence at his trial for the alleged dangerous operation of a truck causing death in 2021.

A 67-year-old man from Emerald died as a result of the crash on May 14, and Mr Pettman was subsequently charged with the dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.

During a pre-trial hearing at Toowoomba District Court on Monday, May 13, Mr Pettman’s legal team put forward a failed application to bar a crash investigator from giving evidence before a potential jury.

His barrister was instructed by senior associate of Fisher Dore Lawyers, Michael O’Brien, and unsuccessfully argued the head of Roma’s crash investigation unit who attended the scene was not an expert witness.

Dale Gordon Pettman at the Toowoomba Court House on Monday, May 13.

Judge Dennis Lynch said the longstanding and experienced Queensland Police sergeant had demonstrated his expertise would be relevant for the jury.

“The opinions expressed by (the sergeant) are admissible as expert evidence,” he said.

“After looking at the (photos)… it does seem to me that the combination of all the evidence of the scene is not something that would be within the ordinary purview of the jury (to make sense of).”

Judge Lynch transferred the case to Roma District Court for its next mention, and ordered the Crown disclose all remaining evidence to Mr Pettman’s legal team on or before June 13.