Lamborghini crash insurance trial hears conflicting accounts of man’s age

A Seven Mile Beach resident who rendered assistance to a man at the scene of a 2019 Lamborghini crash has told the Supreme Court about conflicting statements he gave about the man’s age.

John Spiro Fiotakis.

A Seven Mile Beach resident who rendered assistance to a man at the scene of a 2019 Lamborghini crash on Pittwater Rd has told the Supreme Court about conflicting statements he gave to police regarding the man’s age.

Luke Butcher was giving evidence in the trial of John Spiro Fiotakis, 64, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of attempting by deception to acquire a financial advantage from Allianz Australia Insurance, after allegedly falsely stating he was driving the $239,000 sports car when it was written off in a fiery collision six years ago.

Prosecutors allege the 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo was actually being driven by the defendant’s then 24-year-old son, Spiro, who was not covered by the vehicle’s insurance policy which stipulated drivers must be aged 25 and over.

On Monday, Mr Butcher told the jury he was driving back to his Pittwater Rd farmhouse on the evening of 29 May, 2019, when he saw a vehicle on fire on the road opposite his driveway entrance.

After parking his own car at a safe distance from flames, Mr Butcher said he approached a man standing near the wreckage to enquire about his welfare.

Mr Butcher said the man – who he described as the sole person located in the vicinity of the crashed Lamborghini – had asked to borrow a phone, which Mr Butcher provided.

Asked by prosecutors if he could remember what the man near the car looked like, Mr Butcher replied: “He looked like a younger gentleman. He wasn’t old.”

Mr Butcher told the court he did not witness the crash itself, or see anyone behind the wheel of the car, but said he eventually felt “weird” about what transpired at the roadside.

“I was asked to say that the person I saw at the scene was not driving the car,” he told the court.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer, James Crotty, Mr Butcher was asked about a statutory declaration he provided to police in 2019 soon after the incident, and a second formal document he signed in February of this year.

Mr Butcher agreed that his first statement had made reference to “an older gentleman” being at the crash site, while the subsequent document described the same person as “a younger Greek gentleman”.

Asked to explain the discrepancy in his descriptions of the man’s appearance, Mr Butcher told the court he had experienced ongoing pressure “from both sides” about what to include in his witness statement.

When asked to elaborate on where the pressure was coming from, Mr Butcher said: “From the young driver, and from the police sending me messages over five years.

“I was asked to say that the younger gentleman wasn’t driving and over time it didn’t sit well with me.

“So I made a second statement telling the truth”.

Mr Butcher was also asked about a visit he made to Spiro Fiotakis’s Hobart workplace in September 2019, during which he allegedly discussed aspects of his police statement with a man behind the counter.

Mr Butcher said he remembered making the visit, and that he assumed the man he spoke to was Spiro Fiotakis.

But the witness told the court he could not recall saying “I’m the bloke who witnessed your father’s accident”, or “I’m here because they’re trying to stitch you up, mate”.

Mr Butcher said that the purpose of his visit was to inform Spiro Fiotakis that he had made an official police statement, which contained details of “an older gentleman” being near the Lamborghini.

The trial, before Chief Justice Chris Shanahan, continues.

Originally published as Lamborghini crash insurance trial hears conflicting accounts of man’s age