A P-PLATER who was drinking before he crashed his ute south of Tamworth, killing his friend, will be sentenced later this year.
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Jesse Thomas Radcliffe pleaded guilty in Tamworth Local Court this week to one count of dangerous driving occasioning the death of 20-year-old Benjamin Speering, who died in the rollover crash on December 5, 2015.
Radcliffe, 19, had been drinking at a hotel in Spring Ridge with Mr Speering and two other friends and left when it closed.
They went to a nearby friend's house and continued drinking before they decided to return to Quirindi about 2am.
One of Radcliffe’s friends said he wasn’t going back with him because “he’s too pissed”, according to police facts tendered in court.
“The deceased said words similar to, ‘No, someone has to go back in with Jesse, he is a good driver when he is drunk’,” the facts stated.
Mr Speering got into the passenger seat of Radcliffe’s Mazda utility and the pair drove off, with two friends following behind in a car. A witness told investigators both vehicles were doing about 100km/h in a 60 zone when they passed through Caroona about 2.25am.
Radcliffe failed to negotiate a sweeping bend at speed and crossed the middle line.
“The accused oversteered to the left, which caused the vehicle to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction,” the facts said, before Radcliffe crossed back onto the road into the opposite lane, where the ute then rolled and hit a large gum tree. The ute rolled at least three times and came to rest upside down – pinning Mr Speering, who was wearing a seatbelt, underneath.
Radcliffe and his friends then got out of the vehicle to help Mr Speering.
“They attempted to lift the vehicle to free the deceased, but they were unable to do so,” facts said.
Paramedics and police were called, but Mr Speering died at the scene.
After speaking to Radcliffe, officers “formed the opinion that he was moderately to well-affected by alcohol”, and his “speech was slurred”.
He was taken to Tamworth for blood testing at 5am, and results returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.106 – a mid-range PCA reading. He was charged by crash investigators after handing himself into police on December 11.
“I was driving. Started to go around a bend. Something went wrong and I don’t remember anything after that,” Radcliffe said in an electronic interview with officers.
Following the guilty plea to one charge in court, a back-up offence of negligent driving causing death and a related charge of mid-range PCA will follow the case in the district court, after Radcliffe was committed for sentence in August.
“Your suspension of your entitlement to drive continues until then, so don’t drive anything, OK?” Magistrate Roger Prowse told Radcliffe.
