Truck driver jailed for injuring students in bus crash
Tara Cosoleto |
A truck driver has been jailed for more than 12 years after crashing into a school bus and seriously injuring many students.
Brett Michael Russell, 63, collided with the back of a bus carrying 32 people, including 27 Loreto College Ballarat students, in September 2022.
The students and teachers had been on their way to Melbourne Airport to travel to the United States for a NASA camp.
No one died in the crash, but most of the passengers were taken to hospital and 10 of them suffered serious injuries including spinal fractures.
Russell in October pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to 12 offences, including 10 counts of negligently causing serious injury.
He admitted he knew the brakes of his 62-tonne vehicle had been faulty before he got behind the wheel on September 21.
But his barrister argued Russell’s actions after the crash, including early admissions to police about the brakes and his guilty pleas, showed his “fundamental decency”.
In sentencing Russell to 12 years and nine months’ jail, Judge Michael O’Connell accepted the 63-year-old had been frank with investigators and was profoundly remorseful.
But the judge noted the suffering of the staff, students, bus driver and bystanders, saying the collision had clearly been a nightmare for all of those involved.
“You knew you were taking a serious risk,” Judge O’Connell said on Monday.
Russell, who went into custody ahead of his sentencing, watched via video link from prison as his sentence was handed down.
He will be eligible for parole after eight years.
AAP
