A judge has handed a driver a fraction of the maximum possible jail sentence for killing five people and a dog in one of Victoria’s deadliest crashes.
Christopher Joannidis, who was warned by police about the dangerous roads in Strathmerton minutes before the crash, was jailed for five-and-a-half years but could walk free in less than three years on parole.
He had been driving with his girlfriend to a friend’s wedding, where he would be best man, when two officers pulled him over, on April 20, 2023.
They gave him a speeding ticket for travelling 118km/h in a 100km/h zone, and warned him about the section of road he was driving on.
“We’ve had nine killed on it in the last 18 months, basically because people don’t see give way and stop signs,” an officer told him, in a video played to the County Court in November.
But Joannidis did not heed this warning.
He crossed over three sets of rumble strip and ignored give way signs as he drove from Labuan Road onto the Murray Valley Highway.
Joannidis’ Mercedes Benz sedan crashed into a Nissan Navara ute with five people and a dog inside, pushing it into the path of a truck towing two trailers of milk.
Ute driver Deborah Markey, 62, her dog Sophie and four farm workers from Taiwan and Hong Kong staying at her home – Zhi-Yao Chen, Pin-Yu Wang, Wai Yan Lam and Hsin-Yu Chen – all died instantly.
Joannidis, who pleaded guilty to five counts of dangerous driving causing death, had his bail revoked when he faced the County Court in Melbourne in November.
Dangerous driving causing death is an offence which must receive a sentence of imprisonment, unless the court finds the accused qualifies for a legal exemption.
It carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison per charge.
Defence barrister Paul Smallwood argued Joannidis shouldn’t be jailed due to his psychiatric conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder resulting in washing his hands 20 times per day.
“Jail for him will be very different than jail for someone without this disorder,” he told the court on Thursday.
But prosecutor Daniel Porceddu argued if Joannidis took anti-depressants and anti-psychotics – which he had refused to do – this could help manage his OCD.
“The person who has made imprisonment more burdensome is the prisoner himself,” he said.
Judge Gavan Meredith found prison was the only appropriate sentence for the “horrific” crash.
“Nothing other than a head sentence and non-parole period are to be imposed,” he said.
“Here your driving has ended the lives of five people and occurred in circumstances where you have effectively been warned and cautioned.”
However, he took into account the driver’s remorse, good rehabilitation prospects and how his mental health could impact his time behind bars.
“You are remorseful and if you could, you would turn back time and never embark on a driving episode of this nature,” he said.
The judge also found the design of Labuan Road, including a hump about 40 metres before the intersection, had reduced his moral culpability.
Judge Meredith handed Joannidis, who cried through much of the sentence, a five-year and six-month jail term with a non-parole of three years.
The 31-year-old, who has already served 59 days of his sentence, was supported in court by his girlfriend Emily Theeboom and his brother.
Ms Markey’s son Daniel Montero, truck driver Andrew McClusky and his wife Michelle attended the sentence but declined to speak to media as they left court.
Family members of the farm workers watched the hearing remotely from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Asked whether the Office of Public Prosecutions would appeal the sentence, a spokeswoman said all sentences prosecuted “are reviewed as a matter of course”.
