‘Marked’: driver avoids jail over fatal CBD bus crash
Rex Martinich |
A bus driver who crushed a young woman on a city street has been told he will be forever “marked” by the fatal accident before walking from court.
Lindsay Francis Selby, 70, received a suspended sentence after being found guilty of careless driving over the rush hour crash that claimed teenager Tia Angel Cameron’s life.
Ms Cameron, 18, was struck by Selby’s city council bus and pinned against a building just after 5pm on March 8, 2024 in Brisbane’s CBD.
Her father Alastair Cameron raised his hands in what appeared to be relief outside Brisbane Magistrates Court after Selby was found guilty of driving without due care or attention causing death on Thursday.
Other family members cried as magistrate Aaron Simpson handed down his verdict before sharing the tragedy’s devastating impact with the court.
Selby did not visibly react and stood staring ahead when found guilty before being told his career as a bus driver was likely over.
“Whatever I do to you, you will be marked and scarred by that day. For the family of Tia Angel, the mark on them will never go away,” Mr Simpson said.
“Whatever I do in sentencing, it won’t change that outcome.”
Ms Cameron’s mother Jade Te Awhitu said her “world is now darker and smaller and so much lonelier”.
“Losing Tia is more than losing a daughter – it’s losing her future she will never get to experience” Te Awhitu said as she read her victim impact statement.
“She’ll never have children. I’ll never be the grandmother that I yearn to be.”
Alastair Cameron said he had lost so much and felt he “needed to start his life all over again”.
Mr Simpson told Selby he had caused a “tragic accident” by failing to pay attention and observe traffic ahead of him as he turned a downhill corner.
“That poor decision caused you to collide with the building and Tia Angel Cameron,” Mr Simpson said.
In the verdict’s reasons, Mr Simpson said he rejected Selby’s varying accounts of trying to brake but being unable to press the pedal as he rounded a downhill corner.
“You didn’t know what happened and you came up with the best answer you could find in that traumatic experience,” he said.
Both the prosecution and defence agreed Selby turned on a busy street and failed to apply the brakes.
Selby swerved to the left before mounting a footpath at 23km/h and striking multiple pedestrians.
Mr Simpson was shown CCTV footage of Selby turning the bus away from Brisbane’s Central train station at an intersection before swerving onto the footpath.
Selby told police after the crash he had thought he was “going to slam into four lanes of traffic”.
“I moved the wheel across to the left and steered into the building. Unfortunately there was somebody in the way that I didn’t see,” Selby said.
There was no jury and Mr Simpson determined the verdict following a one-day trial in September.
The maximum sentence for careless driving causing death is 12 months imprisonment or a $13,300 fine.
Selby’s offending was aggravated by being a professional driver in a heavy vehicle with the responsibility to look out for more vulnerable road users, crown prosecutor Susan Hedge said.
Defence barrister Saul Holt called for a suspended sentence and said his client had written a letter to the court about his remorse.
“Mr Selby will always be deeply affected by what happened,” Mr Holt said.
Mr Simpson said Selby’s offending was serious but his multiple health issues would also make custody or community service more difficult.
Selby was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, to be wholly suspended on the condition he not reoffend in the next 12 months.
He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months instead of the mandatory minimum period of six months.
AAP
