STATE OF TASMANIA v SETH JAMES BROWN 4 JULY 2024
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Brown has pleaded guilty to the crime of causing death by dangerous driving, and to a charge of dangerous driving. On 9 May 2022 he drove his 1995 Nissan Navara utility in a dangerous manner around the streets of Devonport and out to the vicinity of the Devonport Airport where he lost control of the vehicle and it crashed. He had four passengers and one of them was killed.
Mr Brown was 18 years old on the day in question. He has an intellectual disability. He has an IQ of about 68 to 73. He suffered from a brain injury as a result of the crash, but pre-injury assessments suggest that his IQ remained the same. He has never been able to obtain any employment, but he did some work cutting firewood for his grandfather, earning $700 which he used to purchase the Nissan Navara from his grandfather. He was taught to drive by his grandfather and an RACT instructor. He held a provisional licence which required him not to carry more than one peer passenger (aged between 16 and 21), and not to drive faster than 100 kilometres per hour, even when a higher speed limit applied.
In Devonport on the day in question he drove from Longview Crescent towards the Bluff. He was observed doing a burnout as he turned out of Clements Street onto Bluff Road. He exceeded the speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour as he drove over some speed humps. He drove into a car park so fast that he stopped with his two front wheels on the kerb. Then he reversed out at speed and tried to do a couple of burnouts. He did a burnout on Bluff Road, travelling at about 70 to 80 kilometres per hour where the speed limit is initially 40 and later 50.
He had a passenger named Zavier Bowden. In the Devonport CBD he picked up a second passenger named Bailey Seabourne. He drove along Best Street and turned right into Fenton Street, causing the vehicle nearly to roll to its right during the right turn, and then nearly to roll to its left as he tried to regain control. The vehicle went close to some pedestrians who were standing on the footpath at the corner of the streets.
Mr Brown decided to take Bailey Seabourne to his grandmother’s house in East Devonport. They collected two more passengers, Seth Townsend and Shayla Barker, from a place in Forbes Street. The new passengers had a dog with them. It was put in the tray of the vehicle. At the intersection of Berrigan Road and Lyons Avenue Mr Brown attempted a sideways drift while turning left. He drove at about 70 kilometres per hour along Lyons Avenue, a residential street with a speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour. He had to slam on the brakes when the vehicle reached Formby Road.
The dog was dropped off at an address in Devonport. After that Mr Townsend, Ms Barker and Mr Seabourne sat on the back seat while Mr Bowden travelled in the front passenger seat. Ms Barker and Mr Seabourne told Mr Brown that their seatbelts were not working. He told them not to worry. Mr Townsend believed that his seatbelt was working and that he had properly secured it. After a stop at Mr Seabourne’s grandmother’s place the group decided to travel to Moorlands Beach near Wesley Vale.
Mr Brown drove along Torquay Road, Piping Lane and Port Sorell Road at speeds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour. Torquay Road and Piping Lane have speed limits of 80 kilometres per hour. Port Sorell Road has a speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour.
There is a roundabout on Port Sorell Road at its junction with Pardoe Road, which leads to the Devonport Airport. Mr Brown tried to drift his vehicle around that roundabout. The speed limit is 80 kilometres per hour, but he travelled at at least 120 kilometres per hour. He tried to drift his vehicle around the roundabout. He continued for a short distance before reaching a right hand curve on Port Sorell Road. The vehicle’s rear left wheel went onto the gravel shoulder on the left side of the road. He lost control. The vehicle flipped three to five times and then slid and rolled to a stop, coming to rest on its wheels. It was facing south, partly across the westbound lane and partly in a drain.
Mr Seabourne, whose seatbelt was not working, was flung from the vehicle and came to rest in the eastbound lane of the road in a large pool of blood with a window frame from the vehicle on top of him. He died there.
Mr Townsend was also flung from the vehicle. Apparently his seatbelt was not properly secured as he had thought. He landed near Mr Seabourne. He was unconscious for a short time, but he regained consciousness and dragged Ms Barker, who was screaming, out of the vehicle. Mr Bowden was unable to get out of the vehicle. He had to be cut free by emergency workers once they arrived.
Mr Townsend suffered a comminuted fracture of his left collarbone, and a non-displaced fracture of one vertebra, as well as a superficial laceration to his forehead and some grazing.
Mr Bowden suffered from concussion, abrasions and contusions to his head, and a ragged abrasion to his left knee.
Ms Barker suffered injuries to her left shoulder which required surgery, a small laceration to her temple which was closed with three staples, and minor spinal injuries that were not serious enough to require her to wear a brace.
Mr Brown was unconscious for 17 days after the crash. He was taken to the Mersey Community Hospital and from there by helicopter to the Royal Hobart Hospital where he remained in a coma in the neurological ward. He was transferred to a rehabilitation unit on 8 June 2022 and discharged on 13 July 2022, more than nine weeks after the crash. He suffered a head injury which has resulted in him having no memory of the crash or the driving that preceded it. There are indications that his long-term memory has also been adversely affected. Amnesia is a common consequence of head injuries suffered in motor vehicle accidents. It sometimes happens that judges have to sentence motorists for crimes that they do not remember committing. This is one of those cases.
Bailey Seabourne was 16 years old. I have been provided with victim impact statements from his father and from Paula Seabourne, who was described as his guardian. His father went to the scene of the crash and saw its aftermath. Since then he has been troubled by nightmares, panic attacks, disturbed sleep, and irritability, amongst other symptoms. A family member named Nathan identified the body at the crash scene. I was informed that he had a similar range of psychological symptoms. He gave up his employment, which had required him to drive out past the scene of the crash. I was told that Bailey Seabourne’s girlfriend is still obtaining medical help as a result of his death. I was told that the family now rarely go out together, whereas they used to go out often, especially to play darts.
Mr Brown is now 20 years old. He has no convictions for any offences before or after the crash. I have been provided with reports about him by two psychologists. One has provided a detailed report in relation to his intellectual impairment. The other has been treating Mr Brown for the psychological consequences of the crash and has seen him on some 27 occasions. This second psychologist described him as “a respectful, quietly spoken young man”. It appears that he has warm and supportive parents. His youngest brother suffered brain damage in the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy in December 2021. He assisted his parents with his brother’s care. He has no problems related to alcohol or drugs.
Mr Brown co-operated with the police after regaining consciousness. He declined to be interviewed, but admitted that he was the driver of the vehicle. He consented to a sample of his blood being analysed. He provided details of his prescription medication. He pleaded guilty at an early stage. He regrets having caused the death of a friend, and understands that the lives of Mr Seabourne’s family will never be the same again.
He had learning difficulties at school. He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Grade 9. He was bullied by other students. Despite his intellectual disability, he completed years 11 and 12 at Don College, where he studied practical subjects including automotive studies.
Prior to the day in question, he was being treated by a psychiatrist and taking medication for ADHD and an anti-depressant for management of social anxiety disorder. He was suffering from mixed anxiety and depression.
He has been entirely dependent on his parents for the practical necessities of day to day living and social functioning. He has stayed home nearly all the time in the two years since the accident. Apparently he has an unshakable belief that he might be killed or harmed as a result of causing Bailey Seabourne’s death.
Mr Brown’s intellectual disability makes it necessary for me to impose a more lenient sentence than I would otherwise impose, for two reasons. First, because of his intellectual disability, his moral culpability for his dangerous driving is less than it would otherwise be. It means that this case is not an appropriate one for me to impose a heavy sentence designed to deter others from similar offending. Secondly, imprisonment will be a substantially more difficult experience for him than it is for ordinary prisoners. In the words of his treating psychologist, “He has very few personal resources for coping in terms of protecting himself or for asking for help, and I imagine he would be very vulnerable in a prison setting.” Quite apart from that, there is his fear of a revenge attack on him whilst in prison. It may be that no such fears are warranted, but the fears are real.
This was not a case in which an intoxicated driver caused someone’s death by driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It is a case in which a completely sober 18 year old drove as if his vehicle was a toy, placing the lives and safety of his passengers and himself at risk for the sake of a few quick thrills.
The only appropriate penalty in this case is a sentence of imprisonment. Because of the mitigating circumstances that I have mentioned, particularly Mr Brown’s intellectual disability, I will impose the shortest possible non-parole period. No sentence of imprisonment will be able to return the life that has been lost. Sentences in a case like this often seem overwhelming from the point of view of the offender and those close to the offender and, from another point of view, nowhere near as severe as the harm that the offender has caused. The sentence that I am about to impose is designed to strike an appropriate balance, and to be consistent with other sentences in this State for serious driving crimes, bearing in mind all the factors that I have referred to.
Seth James Brown, I convict you and sentence you to two years six months’ imprisonment with effect from 28 June 2024. You will not be eligible for parole until you have served 15 months of your sentence. I order that you be disqualified from driving for three years from today and that your driving licence be cancelled. I order that your Nissan Navara vehicle FL 4472 be forfeited to the State of Tasmania. I specify the value of the vehicle to be $100.