The case of Richard Pusey, the porsche-driving road-rager who filmed himself screaming abuse at dying police officers, grabbed headlines. Pusey was recently convicted and sentenced for “outraging public decency”.
But the accident itself was not Pusey’s fault, except insofar as his flagrant speeding habit led to the police being in the fatal place at the fatal time. Pusey’s crime, which indeed outrages any decent person, was his callous indifference and raging selfishness.
The person directly responsible for the accident has also been convicted and jailed. But there are now allegations that the chain of culpability reaches further than a drug-deranged truck driver and an abusive, entitled creep.
The manager of a truck driver who killed four police officers in the Eastern Freeway tragedy was warned by another colleague that he should not be driving.
Mohinder Singh was last month jailed for 22 years for culpable driving causing the deaths of Victoria police members Lynette Taylor, Kevin King, Glen Humphris and Josh Prestney in the deadly crash on April 22 last year.
His boss Simiona Tuteru, 49, the Victorian manager of Connect Logistics, is now facing court on charges of manslaughter after police allege he failed in his duty to stop Singh from driving when knowing he was fatigued.
The horrorshow of that day in Melbourne was a shocking culmination of separate events, all of them appalling.
A series of text messages tendered to the court reveal the trucking company’s night shift supervisor, Stephen Harrison, had sent a message to Mr Tuteru at 1.38pm on the day of the crash expressing his concerns about Singh from his night shift the evening before.
Mr Harrison said: “I am concerned about his mental state. He was putting trucks on wrong docks and he had a sleep on the way back from Thomastown and slept in.
“I don’t think he should be driving. I told him to go to the doctors straight away.”
Mr Harrison told Mr Tuteru “I will leave with you to maybe make contact with him”.
Mr Tuteru simply replied: “Will speak to him.”
Three hours later, Tuteru was still assigning deliveries to Singh.
An hour later, Singh, 48, veered into the emergency lane and ploughed into the officers, who had stopped Richard Pusey for speeding in his Porsche.
Mr Harrison, giving evidence on Tuesday in a Melbourne Magistrates Court hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for Mr Tuteru to stand trial, said he had never been concerned about Singh before.
He also had no suspicions that Singh was on drugs.
Mr Harrison said Singh did not appear sleepy but rather “confused” on the morning of the crash[…]
It comes after Singh’s daughter Harpreet Bajwa, 21, told the court on Monday she had urged her dad to stay home the day of the crash because “I thought he was going to kill someone if he drove”.
She said he was rambling about seeing ghosts, aliens and witches.
Mr Tuteru is facing 82 charges including four counts of manslaughter over the deaths of the four police officers, with police alleging he insisted Singh drive despite being aware of his deteriorating mental state.
Herald-Sun
Richard Pusey was sentenced to ten months jail: with time already served in remand, he had only a few additional days to serve. But he isn’t likely to walk free soon. Pusey faces other, unrelated charges, relating to a road rage incident, and to using a carriage service to harass.
He’s certainly not doing anything to endear himself to the beaks any more than he has the general public. Appearing in court via video link from prison, Pusey shouted abuse at the judge and argued with his own lawyer.
The judge put him on mute and adjourned the hearing.
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