Trent Donovan’s criminal history uncovered following Nirimba fatal crash

A Brisbane father who took one teen’s life and changed another’s forever when he sped through a red light had previously bashed a local security guard so ruthlessly the magistrate said it was “a miracle he wasn’t killed”.

Trent Donovan (centre).

Ten years ago a Queensland judge told the court it was a miracle Trent Donovan’s ferocious attack didn’t kill his innocent victim.

Now, the criminal and careless driver, with a blatant disregard for the law, killed a 17-year-old boy and permanently injured his 16-year-old best friend.

In the early hours of Saturday, September 14, the 32-year-old recklessly rode his motorcycle through a red light in Nirimba on the Sunshine Coast.

He collided with the Toyota Corolla of 17-year-old Broc Dawson. They both died at the scene.

Jet Dennien, 16, a passenger in the Corolla, remains in hospital with life altering injuries.

Jett Dennien and Broc Dawson. Pictures – contributed.

Donovan ripped away one young life and changed the course of another forever – despite his family saying he’d turned away from his criminal past.

In 2013, a then 21-year-old Donovan pleaded guilty to viciously attacking a security guard and causing him grievous bodily harm.

The then 54-year-old victim, Ricky Dawson, was hit in the head and bashed repeatedly with a star picket by Donovan after interrupting a break-in at the Caloundra Australian Rules Football Club in the early hours of July 29, 2012.

Judge John Robertson told the court in 2013 the attack on Ricky Dawson was of “some ferocity”.

“It’s a miracle he wasn’t killed,” he said.

When Donovan was sentenced, Mr Dawson told this publication he hoped his attacker would learn from his mistake and never hurt anyone ever again.

“The best thing is that I know he’s not going to hurt anybody else,” Mr Dawson said when Donovan was sentenced to five years jail time.

“To think he’s going to have a lot of time to think about what he’s done.

“Hopefully, he’ll come out of it a better person.”

Ricky Dawson in Nambour General Hospital after being bashed by Trent Donovan. Picture – Warren Lynam

According to Donovan’s family, he was exposed to an unsavoury environment from an early age and on the wrong side of the law repeatedly, stuck in a vicious cycle he struggled to break.

But the Morayfield man’s family said his actions on the fatal night he ran the red light were inexcusable.

“Trent wouldn’t have wanted this and we know that he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he had survived, knowing what had resulted from a split second of poor decision- making,” Mr Donovan’s twin brother Cody said.

Trent Donovan.

“We cannot change what has happened and it is soul destroying to know that we all need to live with this now.

“We are not justifying or excusing his actions that night, but people need to know that Trent was not the person they are thinking he was.”

Broc Dawson’s mother said she had no sympathy for Donovan after he killed her son.

“My son and his best mate, who he was driving home by the way, were doing the right thing driving through a green light when an arsehole on a motorbike doing ridiculous speeds ran that red light and ploughed into my child, taking him away from me forever,” she said.

Originally published as Trent Donovan’s criminal history uncovered following Nirimba fatal crash