Gumleaf
March 9th, 2008, 07:34 PM
Monday Mar 10 11:07 AEDT
The father of a driver who ploughed into a group of teenagers, killing six, hopes his son will be released within weeks.
Thomas Towle, 36, was on Sunday found guilty of six counts of dangerous driving causing death after he veered into the teenagers at Cardross, near Mildura, Victoria, two years ago.
While the victims' families are outraged Towle was found not guilty of the more serious charge of culpable driving, his father Graham Towle said on Monday he hoped the concession would see his son set free.
"I personally hope the judge sentences him to time already served," Mr Towle told AAP.
He said that was possible if the non-parole period of Towle's sentence was minimal.
"Therefore when you take into consideration the time he's done already, he'd be able to go out on parole almost straight away - that's what I'm hoping."
Towle is facing a maximum five years jail on each charge of dangerous driving causing death.
The maximum penalty for the more serious charge of culpable driving is 20 years behind bars.
Towle will reappear in court for a pre-sentence hearing on March 17.
Mr Towle avers his son was not driving dangerously on February 18, 2006, when he struck the teenagers as they left a Saturday night party.
But he admitted Towle could have better driven to the conditions and said the charge was the best available to the judge if his son was to "get out of jail straight away".
Mr Towle said he could never be happy with the verdict when six teenagers were dead.
However, he expressed frustration the facts of the case, he believes, were covered up and he and his family had been victimised.
Mr Towle said his son was a reformed man and would live with the tragedy of the road smash for the rest of his life.
"Thomas has changed his attitude altogether, he's become a Christian," he said.
"Tom's certainly turned to God in the sense it's the only thing he's had to turn to - how do you carry the death of six people?"
Mr Towle said he still cried over the horror events that unfolded in the darkness next to the vineyards at Cardross more than two years ago.
He said he knew one of the victims, Cory Dowling, 16, well, and was "devastated" by his death.
Mr Towle said his life had been turned upside down since the crash.
His wife had walked out on him, he felt shamed into hanging up his volunteer hat at the local Country Fire Authority (CFA) and was unable to get work.
After a stint on the dole, Mr Towle said he gained employment driving a B-double with a South Australian trucking firm.
"It's pretty shocking, I've gone through a pretty hard time here," he said.
"I found that because of the anxiety I'm in with my wife now ... I get angry about things and I couldn't get work, living on the dole's pretty hard."
Mr Towle says his son's destiny was in God's hands.
Regardless of his sentence, he is relieved his son will be moved out of the remand centre, where prisoners awaiting court hearings are housed.
"It's like living in a 44-gallon drum with petrol at the bottom, waiting for someone to throw a match in," he said.
Meanwhile, the families of the road smash victims are returning to Mildura, devastated the driver was acquitted of culpable driving.
The crash killed Shane Hirst, 16, his sister Abby Hirst, 17, Stevie-Lee Weight, 15, Cassandra Manners, 16, Cory Dowling, 16 and Josephine Calvi, 16.
Shane and Abby's mother Kerry Prowse said she was speechless when the verdict was delivered.
"Numb, numb, absolute - just in shock," she told reporters.
Mildura Senior College chaplain Colin Cole shook as he read a statement on behalf of the victims' families and said the verdict brought no comfort.
"Having an end in this way hasn't helped this situation at all, so they're looking forward to being home," he said.
Mildura Rural City Mayor John Arnold told AAP that it had been a very difficult two years for the community.
"There has been a lot of compassion. And our thoughts go out to everyone involved. The community has been supportive. And our heartfelt thoughts go out to everyone that's been involved."
©AAP 2008
The father of a driver who ploughed into a group of teenagers, killing six, hopes his son will be released within weeks.
Thomas Towle, 36, was on Sunday found guilty of six counts of dangerous driving causing death after he veered into the teenagers at Cardross, near Mildura, Victoria, two years ago.
While the victims' families are outraged Towle was found not guilty of the more serious charge of culpable driving, his father Graham Towle said on Monday he hoped the concession would see his son set free.
"I personally hope the judge sentences him to time already served," Mr Towle told AAP.
He said that was possible if the non-parole period of Towle's sentence was minimal.
"Therefore when you take into consideration the time he's done already, he'd be able to go out on parole almost straight away - that's what I'm hoping."
Towle is facing a maximum five years jail on each charge of dangerous driving causing death.
The maximum penalty for the more serious charge of culpable driving is 20 years behind bars.
Towle will reappear in court for a pre-sentence hearing on March 17.
Mr Towle avers his son was not driving dangerously on February 18, 2006, when he struck the teenagers as they left a Saturday night party.
But he admitted Towle could have better driven to the conditions and said the charge was the best available to the judge if his son was to "get out of jail straight away".
Mr Towle said he could never be happy with the verdict when six teenagers were dead.
However, he expressed frustration the facts of the case, he believes, were covered up and he and his family had been victimised.
Mr Towle said his son was a reformed man and would live with the tragedy of the road smash for the rest of his life.
"Thomas has changed his attitude altogether, he's become a Christian," he said.
"Tom's certainly turned to God in the sense it's the only thing he's had to turn to - how do you carry the death of six people?"
Mr Towle said he still cried over the horror events that unfolded in the darkness next to the vineyards at Cardross more than two years ago.
He said he knew one of the victims, Cory Dowling, 16, well, and was "devastated" by his death.
Mr Towle said his life had been turned upside down since the crash.
His wife had walked out on him, he felt shamed into hanging up his volunteer hat at the local Country Fire Authority (CFA) and was unable to get work.
After a stint on the dole, Mr Towle said he gained employment driving a B-double with a South Australian trucking firm.
"It's pretty shocking, I've gone through a pretty hard time here," he said.
"I found that because of the anxiety I'm in with my wife now ... I get angry about things and I couldn't get work, living on the dole's pretty hard."
Mr Towle says his son's destiny was in God's hands.
Regardless of his sentence, he is relieved his son will be moved out of the remand centre, where prisoners awaiting court hearings are housed.
"It's like living in a 44-gallon drum with petrol at the bottom, waiting for someone to throw a match in," he said.
Meanwhile, the families of the road smash victims are returning to Mildura, devastated the driver was acquitted of culpable driving.
The crash killed Shane Hirst, 16, his sister Abby Hirst, 17, Stevie-Lee Weight, 15, Cassandra Manners, 16, Cory Dowling, 16 and Josephine Calvi, 16.
Shane and Abby's mother Kerry Prowse said she was speechless when the verdict was delivered.
"Numb, numb, absolute - just in shock," she told reporters.
Mildura Senior College chaplain Colin Cole shook as he read a statement on behalf of the victims' families and said the verdict brought no comfort.
"Having an end in this way hasn't helped this situation at all, so they're looking forward to being home," he said.
Mildura Rural City Mayor John Arnold told AAP that it had been a very difficult two years for the community.
"There has been a lot of compassion. And our thoughts go out to everyone involved. The community has been supportive. And our heartfelt thoughts go out to everyone that's been involved."
©AAP 2008