A Ballarat garbage truck driver who hit and killed a grandmother while she was crossing the road on her way to work last year has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Jonathan Douglas Wilson, 46, failed to give way to pedestrian Angela Loader, 61, as she was crossing Eyre Street on her way to work on April 16, 2021.
He faced the Melbourne County Court on Friday morning and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.
Judge Peter Rozen said there was no explanation for why Wilson failed to see Ms Loader as he turned from Doveton Street South onto Eyre Street.
But he did accept Wilson was "genuinely remorseful".
A defence barrister read a letter to the court on Wilson's behalf, expressing sorrow and an apology to Ms Loader's family who were present for the hearing.
"He is still at a loss to understand and reconcile how it happened," he said.
"He is truly very sorry for what has happened. He thinks of these events every day. He thinks every day of the effect of those events and the effect of his actions on the family and friends of Ms Loader."
The defence counsel said the tragedy came down to "human fallibility".
"He simply did not see her," the defence said during an earlier hearing.
"It's not a situation that a man is tapping on his phone. He's not doing anything else but picking up the bins.
"There's nothing that suggests he failed to look, but he failed to see."
Decades of experience
Wilson was a City of Ballarat employee at the time. He had 20 years' experience driving trucks.
The court heard during an earlier sentence indication hearing he had emptied bins on the side of the road before turning and hitting Ms Loader at a speed of 20 kilometres an hour.
He was required to give way as there was no green arrow light and Ms Loader was legally crossing the road.
She was only one block away from her workplace at MatchWorks in Ballarat when the tragedy occurred.
Ms Loader was taken to hospital and died later that day from chest and head injuries.
Judge Rozen said during an earlier hearing, video footage showed Wilson had driven with no hesitation, as if Ms Loader was not there.
He concluded on Friday it was a "serious departure from the standard of care the law requires of an experienced driver".
Family speaks out
Ms Loader's son Matthew Loader said in a victim impact statement it was the worst day of his life.
"I don't think I'll ever get over it," he said.
Daughter Michelle Huie said she felt lost and broken without her mother.
"I feel nervous every time I cross a road. She's left such a massive hole in my life," she said in her victim impact statement.
"Our family has been changed forever."
After the sentencing, Ms Huie said she felt a lot of mixed emotions.
"I feel relief the whole process is over because it keeps bringing up your grief and takes you back to the beginning. To have it finally over, you can start to move on," she said.
"But I also have mixed feelings about the driver too. I feel bad for him. I knew him before the incident because I work in the waste team at City of Ballarat.
"I know that he is not a bad person. I don't hold any grudge or anything towards him. I know how remorseful he is. I really wish him well."
Mr Loader said he knew Wilson did not mean to kill his mother, but he did, and he was glad he took responsibility.
"It is good for the family. We really needed it [the court process] to finish as quickly as it could because it drags up the grief again and again and causes stress in the family."
Ms Huie and Mr Loader described their mother as a beautiful person who was born in Ballarat and raised in Ballarat.
She lived in the regional city her entire life.
Ms Loader's husband of almost 40 years Glenn Loader died in 2016 and she had been working hard since to set herself up for retirement and overseas trips with her friends.
Ms Huie said her mother was highly involved in helping raise her three grandchildren, who missed her so much.
"Our four-year-old asks where she is and that is really hard," Ms Huie said.
Ms Huie and Mr Loader said they wanted to thank the first responders and medical staff who helped their mother and the police and Department of Prosecutions staff who supported them through the court process.
The court heard Wilson has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety since the incident.
He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment with a nine-month non-parole period.
It will be his first time in custody.
