Kenneth Wayne Grant's defence of his involvement in a fatal hit-and-run in 2019, was that he was sleepwalking at the time, and unaware he was driving his ute when it struck and killed scientist Tony Greenfield.
On Friday that defence was meticulously pulled apart by Newcastle District Court Judge John Hatzistergos and Grant — the father of former NSW police minister Troy Grant — was found guilty of three charges stemming from the death of Mr Greenfield.
Grant's defence team had told the court that he had fallen asleep at a Christmas party, which he and Mr Greenfield had both attended near Maitland on November 30, 2019.
Despite being weary and intoxicated, the court heard Grant left the party around 11.25pm to drive home in his ute.
Minutes later, several hundred metres down the road, the vehicle hit and killed Mr Greenfield, 62.
Grant's barrister, Phillip Boulten, told the court that the former police officer had no memory of the incident that killed Mr Greenfield, a highly respected NSW Health scientist, and that he was involuntarily driving at the time.
Grant had pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, failing to stop and assist after a vehicle impact causing death, and not stopping during a police pursuit.
However, Judge Hatzistergos rejected the sleepwalking defence and found Grant guilty of all three counts, saying "there was no reasonable possibility the accused was sleepwalking at the time".
"The accused's answers are consistent with a conscious and voluntary decision to drive."
'Silly me, I made a mistake'
Grant's trial heard that after he struck Mr Greenfield, Grant was pursued by police under lights and sirens, before he finally stopped his ute and spoke to arresting officers.
At that point, crown prosecutor Lee Carr told the court, Grant outlined his family connections as well as the intoxicated state he was in.
A police body camera recorded Grant's conversation with an arresting officer.
"The accused is [then] reported to have stated, 'Silly me, I made a mistake,' words to that effect."
Troy Grant was the police minister between 2017 and 2019, but had left the position eight months before his father's deadly crash.
'Can something be done?'
Grant, who had a blood alcohol level of 0.194, was taken to Maitland police station to be tested again.
"Subsequent to that test, he was clearly found over the limit, and he is asking whether something can be done about it," Mr Carr told the court.
Grant senior never denied he was drunk on the night of the incident, but said he had no memory of the hit-and-run and that it was an involuntary act.
The sleepwalking defence
Evidence given by medical experts was the key focus in Grant's trial.
A sleep expert relied on by the prosecution, Dr Anup Desai, told the court there was no evidence that Grant had fallen asleep at the party before leaving and getting behind the wheel of his ute.
He then testified that, in his professional opinion, sleepwalkers could not drive a car — or at least not drive a significant distance — without crashing.
But the defence argued Grant's decision to drive was "involuntary" because he could have been sleepwalking or experiencing sleep apnoea at the time.
In his evidence at trial, Troy Grant said his father's sleepwalking was the stuff of "folklore" within his family.
In the end, it was up to former state attorney-general, presiding Judge Hatzistergos, to decide.
"Guilty," he said to all three counts.
Grant remains on bail and will be sentenced at a later date.
