Bereaved families have decried the sentence given to the driver who killed five teenagers in a crash at Buxton, with one father asking "is that what a child's life is worth?"
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Tyrell Edwards was sentenced on Friday, December 1 - his 20th birthday - to 12 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of seven years after pleading guilty to five counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death.
Lily Van de Putte and Summer Williams, 14, Gabriella McLennan and Tyrese Bechard, 15, and Antonio Desisto, 16, were killed on the night of September 6, 2022 when Edwards lost control of a ute and slammed into trees at high speed.
Their families were visibly stricken with grief as they left Campbelltown Courthouse following the sentencing.
Antonio's father Exaven Desisto said the justice system "absolutely stinks".
While he knew the outcome "wasn't going to be spectacular", Mr Desisto said it was still a big shock to hear Judge Christopher O'Brien deliver the sentence.
"I was shocked, so if [Edwards is] eligible for parole in seven years, that's 18 months per [child], is that what a child's life is worth, 18 months?" Mr Desisto said.
Edwards' sentence did not bring closure, he said, because no matter how much time he got, it was the families who "get the life sentence".
Mr Desisto said it was "agony" to be without his boy.
"He was incredible, my best friend. I miss him, I love him and I'm never going to see him again," he said.
Lily's father John Van de Putte said the judge was guided by legislation in determining his sentence but it was a "very low number" and that was why laws needed to change.
He said the minimum of seven years did not hold Edwards accountable.
"There are five lives. You'd get more if you killed someone with a baseball bat," Mr Van de Putte said.
"So this is where legislation needs to be changed - treat a vehicle like a weapon.
"Just because you killed someone in a vehicle, doesn't make the crime any less."
Mr Van de Putte agreed with calls like those from the mother of Libby Ruge, a young woman killed by a driver in Wollongong three years ago, who describes such crimes as "vehicular homicide".
Mr Van de Putte wore a T-shirt to court that bore a picture of five coloured balloons and the words 'Think of the FIVE, Arrive ALIVE!' the name of the road safety campaign he now spearheads.
"With the increasing road deaths... it's not going to be one solution," he said.
"More enforcement, better roads, more education for young people... speeding is a form of violence, and we need to treat it like that."
He said life would never be the same without his daughter and every day was a challenge.
"I can't forgive [Edwards], but I do have sympathy or empathy of what he's going through... and I have a lot of empathy for what his family's going through. They weren't the ones driving the vehicle," Mr Van de Putte said.
Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
