No jail for man who caused road death of Mercury delivery driver John ‘Custard Jay’ Tscherkaskyj

Driving on the wrong side of the road was a “deliberate and risky manoeuvre” that cost the life of a beloved father of 13, and fractured a young woman’s spine. But the driver won’t spend a day in prison for his crimes.

Kellie Jay and Amanda Jay outside the Hobart Magistrates Court.

A YOUNG man who caused the road death of a long-time Mercury delivery driver won’t spend a day in prison for his crime.

On Monday, Kobe Brenden McCauley was given a suspended five-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to negligently causing the death of 56-year-old Goodwood resident John ‘Custard Jay’ Tscherkaskyj on August 8 last year.

His punishment, which also included a 10-month disqualification from driving, also arose from causing the grievous bodily harm of his female passenger in the same incident.

The 19-year-old’s sentence left Mr Tscherkaskyj’s family in tears, including his widow Kellie-Anne Jay and several of their 13 children who attended court.

“Everyone’s gutted,” Mr Tscherkaskyj’s 28-year-old daughter Amanda said after the sentence was handed down.

“Ten months – gutted.”

Kobe Brenden McCauley leaves the Hobart Magistrates Court.

She described her dad as “one of a kind”.

“I honestly would give anything just to have him back,” she said.

“He always wanted to get on the front page of the Mercury. He probably wouldn’t have wanted it like this, but he got his wish.

While sentencing, Magistrate Marica Duvnjak said the crash happened in the early hours while McCauley was driving along Gordon River Road, Glenora.

‘Everyone’s gutted’: Amanda Jay outside the Hobart Magistrates Court.

She said McCauley was not fatigued, and hadn’t consumed alcohol or drugs – but for some unknown reason, crossed into the oncoming lane.

“It appeared to be a deliberate and risky manoeuvre,” Ms Duvnjak said.

The result was a head-on collision that took Mr Tscherkaskyj’s life.

The crash also seriously injured McCauley’s female passenger, leaving her with a fractured spine and surgery requiring rods and bolts.

The woman also required multiple operations on her stomach and bowels.

Ms Duvnjak said the incident had a huge impact on Mr Tscherkaskyj’s large family.

John Tscherkaskyj, more affectionately known as John Custard Jay. The delivery driver was tragically killed in a car crash on August 8 last year. Source: Supplied

“This has been devastating for them,” she said.

“The court accepts for them, no sentencing imposed will ever return the life that has been taken.”

The magistrate said McCauley was also seriously injured in the crash, suffered ongoing psychological impacts and was “remorseful, and regrets the manner of his driving”.

She said she’d been informed he spent large periods of time alone ruminating over the incident and saying, “I blame myself for taking a man’s life, I know it’s not right”.

McCauley, who must pay $90.10 in court costs and a levy of $20, will not have to serve his five-month jail sentence provided he doesn’t commit another imprisonable offence within the next two years, and is of “otherwise good behaviour”.

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