Negligent driver Murray Edward Broughton given suspended jail sentence over South Arm road fatality

UPDATED: A driver’s “senseless and negligent actions” changed a family forever, a court has heard.

Police at the scene of the fatal crash on the South Arm Highway in which a 49-year-old Parattah man was killed and his wife and two stepdaughters were injured. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

A DRIVER’S “senseless and negligent actions” changed a family forever, a court has heard.

Murray Edward Broughton, 26, of Rokeby, was sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court yesterday to a 10-month suspended jail term and disqualified from driving for two years.

Broughton previously pleaded guilty to negligent driving causing the death of a Parattah man, 49, in a crash on the South Arm Highway at Mornington on December 17, 2017. Chief Magistrate Catherine Geason said the crash happened in the mid afternoon and Broughton was travelling at no less than 92km/h in a 60km/h zone.

The court heard Broughton was driving a V8 ute and crashed into the man’s Kia Rio.

“You had accelerated unnecessarily and rapidly from the Mornington roundabout,” Ms Geason said. “Due to your speed, you didn’t have the opportunity to avoid [the] collision… Your vehicle has come out of nowhere because of your speed.”

Murray Edward Broughton leaving the Hobart Magistrates Court after a previous appearance. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

Ms Geason said the man who died was travelling towards Sorell with his wife and his two stepdaughters, who were injured in the crash. “Their family has been changed forever... because of your senseless and negligent actions,” she said. “In my view, the degree of negligence was high.” She accepted Broughton was “deeply and sincerely remorseful” and he regretted his actions.

She said he had the support of his family and employer.

The court heard that since the crash, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had regularly seen a psychologist. “You have also been gravely affected by the incident and by your actions,” she said. “It is clear to me that you have good insight into the devastating effects that speed can have.” The court heard Broughton wrote a letter to the man’s family expressing his deep regret and acknowledging their deep grief.

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Broughton was sentenced to 10 months’ jail, suspended for three years. He was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service, was disqualified from driving for two years and must pay court costs of $83. He was sentenced under 2017 laws that increased penalties for dangerous and negligent driving. The maximum sentence for causing death by negligent driving was increased by one year to two years’ jail for a first offence.