Samuel Lee: Suspended imprisonment for fatal Christmas Eve crash in Denmark

A UK man has avoided prison after causing the death of 55-year-old Kenneth Ross Swan in a collision in Denmark on Christmas Eve. Samuel David Lee, 21, appeared in Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to one count of no authority to drive and one count of careless driving causing death, grievous bodily harm, or bodily harm. Police prosecutor Sgt Warrick Walker told the court that at 5.45pm on December 24, Lee was turning right into the Shell petrol station near the corner of South Coast Highway and Ocean Beach Road when he collided with Mr Swan on his Honda motorcycle. Lee immediately stopped, got out of his vehicle and saw Mr Swan caught underneath. He attempted to stop the bleeding from Mr Swan’s leg by applying a tourniquet but Mr Swan was declared dead at the scene. A UK citizen in Australia on a working holiday visa, Lee has never held an Australian driver’s licence. Lee’s defence lawyer Bruno Illari said his client only began turning because the road was clear. He said Lee’s visa expires in May but he will be applying for an extension, and that alcohol and drug tests administered by police following the incident returned negative readings. Mr Illari said Lee has said the incident was the “worst day of his life” and sought fines or a term of suspended imprisonment on behalf of his client. Sgt Walker said Lee displayed no prolonged behaviour of reckless driving and the “catastrophic incident” was a result of “momentary inattention”. Magistrate Erin O’Donnell stood the matter down to consider the outcome. She said the incident was aggravated by a lack of a licence and that “nobody intends for this to happen”. “You shouldn’t have been driving at all,” she said. “You’re to be commended for immediately stopping and rendering medical assistance, but unfortunately he did die.” Ms O’Donnell said no directly comparable cases existed and it would be difficult to “find a yardstick” to impose a sentence. Lee was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of seven months, suspended for 10 months, and was disqualified from driving for four months.