Driver sentenced to 5 years jail over fatal car crash in northern Victoria

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A driver who killed five people in country Victoria could be released from prison after serving just three years behind bars. The 30-year-old had been speeding before he failed to give way at an intersection in northern Victoria.

Transcript

00:00The aftermath of one of Victoria's deadliest crashes. A lifetime of pain for the victim's

00:07loved ones and the man responsible could walk free in three years. This carnage came after

00:14a driver ignored warning signs and rumble strips, causing a three vehicle smash at Strathmerton

00:20in 2023. Christopher Joannidis' white Mercedes went through a give way sign and crashed into

00:26a ute, sending it flying into the path of a milk truck. The ute driver, 62-year-old

00:32mother Debbie Markey, was killed, along with four passengers, seasonal workers from Taiwan

00:38and Hong Kong. Minutes before the crash, Joannidis had been pulled over by police and warned

00:44to slow down. Your driving was in a manner dangerous to the public, Judge Gavin Meredith

00:49said. It has had a catastrophic impact on your victims. In court, the children of Debbie

00:54Markey watched on, along with truck driver Andrew McCluskey, who says he's been traumatised

01:00for life. The maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death is ten years, and Joannidis

01:06was facing five separate charges. But instead of a lengthy stint in prison, many in the

01:11courtroom were left stunned when the judge announced a maximum sentence of five and a

01:16half years. Joannidis could be released on parole after serving just three years in custody.

01:22The court heard the 31-year-old has struggled in prison over the last two months with obsessive

01:27compulsive disorder and depression. This wasn't the first tragedy at the intersection of the

01:33Murray Valley Highway and Lauban Road. In 2022, a man died in a crash with an unmarked

01:39police car. There have been recent upgrades and a coronial inquest is looking at what

01:44can be done to make it safer.

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