July 30, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\nA tired driver who caused a head-on crash that killed two Toowoomba basketballers near Booubyjan last year was changing music tracks on his mobile phone when the incident occurred.<\/p>\n
He also had traces of methylamphetamine in his system after taking the drug the weekend before the crash, the District Court in Kingaroy was told on Monday.<\/p>\n
Jeremy Karl Crane, 29, from Dingo, pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.<\/p>\n
Stacey Lee Richter, 21, and Stephanie Olympia Mylonas, 20, from the Toowoomba Mountaineers basketball team, were travelling back from a game in Bundaberg when they were killed in the collision on the Burnett Highway about 4:35pm on August 19.<\/p>\n
Crane was driving a Toyota Hilux 4WD pulling a trailer. He was heading north along the highway.<\/p>\n
Basketballer Jodi Wright was driving a Toyota Prado and travelling south. The deceased passengers were seated in the front passenger seat and a rear passenger seat of the Prado. Two children, a 13-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, were also in the vehicle.<\/p>\n
The Crown alleged that as Crane came to a bend he straightened up onto the wrong side of the road.<\/p>\n
Ms Wright slowed down as she saw Crane’s vehicle approaching. She flashed her lights and sounded her horn but there was no response from the other vehicle.<\/p>\n
She swerved to avoid the impact but the vehicles still collided.<\/p>\n
The Prado was spun around and Crane’s Hilux overturned.<\/p>\n
Ms Wright and the two children were taken by ambulance to Murgon Hospital for treatment to minor injuries; Crane was transported to Kingaroy Hospital, also with minor injuries. Ms Richter and Ms Mylonas died at the scene.<\/p>\n
A later police search of Crane’s vehicle located a small plastic container inside a rolled up pair of socks. Inside was 0.575g of methylamphetamine in crystal rocks.<\/p>\n
Crane told police he had swallowed speed on the previous Wednesday and Saturday; he had only two hours sleep on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the journey he had pulled up at the Tansey turn-off to clean his windscreen. When pressed by police, he said he was “a bit tired”.<\/p>\n
He said the crash occurred just as he had put music on. All he could remember was a “boom boom” and then rolling over.<\/p>\n
The music was on his phone which was plugged into the vehicle’s stereo, and he was changing songs.<\/p>\n
Another witness told police he had seen Crane’s vehicle travel onto the wrong side of the road before correcting itself a few kilometres south of where the crash occurred.<\/p>\n
The Crown said a blood test found 0.05mg\/kg amphetamine and 0.23mg\/kg methylamphetamine in Crane’s blood; there was no trace of alcohol.<\/p>\n
The courtroom was packed by friends and family of the deceased to hear the sentencing.<\/p>\n
A victim impact statement prepared by Ms Wright was read to the court.<\/p>\n
Judge Gary Long sentenced Crane to 3 1\/2 years jail to be suspended after serving 10 months.<\/p>\n
[UPDATED July 31, 2013 with corrections]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A tired driver who caused a head-on crash that killed two Toowoomba basketballers near Booubyjan last year was changing music tracks on his mobile phone when the incident occurred.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":213388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,24],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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