Before he was killed in a horrific car crash, Harrison ‘Harry’ Payne sent one final text to his dad Kent.
At 2.30pm on May 30, 2021, Kent Payne’s phone lit up with a message from his son, Harrison.
It was an ordinary Sunday, like any other. Harry had slept in the night before after hanging out with his mates. He’d turned 18 just three weeks ago and had graduated from school last August.
“Dad, I’m heading for the beach.” Harry wrote to his father.
Kent knew his son and best mate. He knew he wasn’t prone to doing anything dangerous or stupid. He had nothing to worry about otherwise.
“Be safe mate, I love you.” Kent’s reply came in.
Harry said: “I will dad, I love you, I will be safe.”
Little did Kent know this would be the last conversation he would have with his son.
In the space of 24 hours, the lives of the Payne family were turned upside down forever when they learnt Harry had been killed in a horrific car crash on a Queensland beach.
A crash, as Kent put it, that was entirely avoidable.
Harry’s booming voice would no longer be heard. A house that once rang with his laughter now echoed with silence, its inhabitants shells of their once joyous selves.
The heartbreaking last exchange can be revealed after Lynden Joshua Roby, 20, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Harry’s death after he rolled his car on Ocean Beach in Woorim – a suburb of Bribie Island.
On Monday, a sea of Harry’s supporters donned the signature black shirts of The Harrison Payne Initiative – a not-for-profit founded in the 18-year-old’s memory to raise awareness around beach, 4WD and road safety.
Harry’s parents, his brother Noah, his sister Emily, and dozens of people who had called him a good friend and confidant packed Brisbane District Court as Roby was sentenced.
In heartbreaking statements, each of the family members revealed how they had completely changed after Harry was taken from them. How their lives were consumed by “constant grief”.
Kent saved his harshest words for his son’s killer.
“You need to know I will never forgive you for your behaviour,” a tearful Kent told Roby.
“How do you drive a 4WD up the beach, speeding … fishtailing, driving erratically, risking lives – thinking this is some kind of joke.
“You took Harry from us. That is an absolute fact. You are responsible for Harry’s death.
“The unacceptable driving behaviour that took place on this fateful day was a disgrace. Unacceptable, dangerous, and simply appalling and preventable.”
The court was told Harry was in the passenger seat of the 4WD when Roby – then 18 – was at the wheel.
Crown prosecutor Mark McCarthy said they were part of a “convoy” of young people who met at the beach.
People camping in the area saw the convoy “racing” each other and driving dangerously.
Roby – who had only obtained his P1 licence in March that year – performed power slides and doughnuts, fishtailing his car and sending it airborne in an appalling lack of regard for other people on the beach.
He was seen driving between 70-90km/h – despite the fixed speed limit being 50km/h.
Mr McCarthy said Roby accelerated ahead of the convoy as they raced up the beach. He fishtailed once. Then twice.
On the third time, the HiLux yawed to the right, the back tyres digging into the sand.
Harry was thrown from the vehicle as the car rolled, his body hitting the wet sand.
He was killed instantly.
Reading from his victim impact statement, Kent said his text “be safe mate” would be the last time he would ever have contact with Harry.
He recalled his beloved son texting him 10 times a day – saying where he was, where he was going and always asking for advice. Harry even gave advice to his dad in their exchanges.
Now, Kent said, that was no more.
No more birthdays, Christmases, Easters, Mother’s and Father’s Days or any other special occasions with his best mate.
All the Paynes had left of their beloved son were memories. Memories and a little garden they spend time in “thinking about and remembering Harry”.
“As you can see by the turnout today, Harry was an incredible young man. Kind, loving and caring. Harry would give you the last dollar if it meant helping someone out … he was loved by everyone,” Kent told Roby.
“Harry did not want to die, he had so much to live for.
“This opportunity has been taken from him and the joy of us seeing Harry grow up and live his life has been taken away.
“Harry will never experience the opportunity to have his own family or get married.”
Life had become “surreal” without his son around, but Kent said “life would never be normal”.
“You do not just get over losing your child, remember that,” he said.
“I love you Harry, I miss you every single hour of the day.”
For Kylie Payne, Harry’s mother, one of the hardest things was trying to remember the last night she spent with her son. Trying not to forget how he looked, how he smelled after she kissed him goodbye, how happy he sounded.
She could never have known it would be the last night she would spend with her “baby boy”.
“I will remember that night forever,” Kylie said.
Harry had been getting ready for a party with his friends and the family were joking about the pants he was wearing: his favourite pants bought with a birthday voucher from his aunt, just after he turned 18.
Kylie revealed her boy was cremated in the very same pants.
“Harry was in such a hurry to go, he was so happy,” she told the court.
“Why wouldn’t he be? He had the world at his feet, he just turned 18. He was sensible and he loved life.”
Kylie said she had also texted Harry that fateful day, asking him to help his dad mow the lawn.
Instead, she got a phone call from her daughter Emily urging her to come home quickly because the unthinkable had happened: Harry had been in a crash.
“That’s all she told me, for obvious reasons,” Kylie said.
“I arrived home from work and my husband had to deliver me the news that our son had died.
“Imagine that? Your husband telling you your son would never be coming home again.”
Since that day, Harry’s room has remained untouched.
Kylie described her life being “ripped apart” as police delivered the shocking news, then having to identify Harry’s body to detectives from a picture of him lying in the morgue.
“I desperately so wanted it not to be Harry. It didn’t look like Harry, but I knew it was Harry,” she said.
“The thought of my baby boy, all alone, by himself, to this day still breaks my heart.
“He was all by himself. Who was looking after him? Was he cold? Did he miss me like I missed him?
“I just wanted to be with him and hold his hand, keep him warm like I always did.”
Roby had penned a letter where he indicated remorse and grief for the “profound impact” he’d had on the family.
But his insight was called into question at court.
Mr McCarthy said Roby had racked up multiple traffic offences after Harry’s death.
One included doing burnouts in an industrial estate just five months after the crash. He’d also been booked for running red lights, speeding in a school zone and driving unlicensed.
His social media posts also cast an unfavourable light. In a Snapchat from June last year, Roby could be heard revving an engine excessively as his friends laughed in the background, Mr McCarthy said.
In one of Roby’s TikTok videos, he brags he has “come a long way” in a couple of months, posing with a shiny new Nissan Navara.
That car was being driven by Roby when he was booked for some of the traffic offences.
Mr McCarthy said Roby had shown “no insight” and even a psychiatrist had opined he was a continued risk to the community while behind the wheel.
Roby’s defence barrister Patrick Wilson said the 20-year-old had been overwhelmed by feelings of grief – confessing he wished he had been killed in place of Harry.
Mr Wilson said his client entered, as he called it, a “self-destructive episode” – attempting to explain some of the behaviours he was exhibiting.
Roby was ultimately sentenced to three years’ jail, with Judge John Allen accepting Roby was remorseful.
But with his “good prospects of rehabilitation” being taken into account, Roby will walk free from jail in nine months – the rest of the sentence suspended.
Outside court, the Payne family could have voiced outrage at the verdict.
But in the ultimate show of grace, the Paynes simply said they respected the outcome.
The pair have channelled their energy into The Harrison Payne Initiative, seeking to support victims of road and beach trauma.
They want to ensure something like this never happens to any other family.
“We respect the court system and we respect the outcome today,” the Paynes told reporters.
“No jail time was ever going to bring Harry back.”
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