Mohinder Singh. Photo / David Crosling, NCA NewsWire
Mohinder Singh. Photo / David Crosling, NCA NewsWire
An Australian truckie who was high on ice and "actively psychotic" when he ploughed into four officers on a Melbourne freeway has apologised.
Mohinder Singh faced the second day of his pre-sentence hearing in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday.
The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to four counts of culpabledriving causing the deaths of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, Constable Glen Humphris and Constable Josh Prestney.
His lawyer Peter Morrissey SC told the court Singh was "very sorry for what he did".
"He was actively psychotic at the time of the offending with the delusional belief he had been cursed," Morrissey said.
On Thursday the court was told the Cranbourne driver had only slept five hours in the 72 hours before the crash and was drifting across lanes on the freeway.
A sleep expert made an estimation the level of impairment due to lack of rest was close to a driver who was six times the drink-driving limit.
Grieving families of the officers gave emotional testimony about their loss.
Senior Constable Kevin King's partner Sharron MacKenzie said she had lost her soulmate and it was a "gut-wrenching pain" to lose him.
"I felt I could die of a broken heart," she said.
Constable Glen Humphris and Senior Constable Kevin King. Photo / Victoria Police
Todd Robinson, the partner of Constable Humphris, addressed Singh directly.
"Mohinder … you took the most important person away from me in the most violent way," he said.
He said seeing a truck on the road was a constant reminder of his partner's "tragic and violent death".
The parents of Constable Joshua Prestney revealed their pain in court and his father Andrew remembers the moment he heard about the crash on the news.
"Time ticks. What's going on? Confusion. A sense of dread. Starting to worry now. Time ticks. Nah, it can't possibly be Josh. He's only just starting at highway patrol."
He ran out of their home when a police car arrived at their neighbour's home and an inspector stepped out and told him "Andrew, I am so sorry".
"I fall to the footpath and scream, 'No, not my boy'," he told the court.
His wife Belinda said she was left with two images of her son Josh burnt in her mind, the first of him as a baby in his crib. The second was of him lying in his casket.
The husband of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Stuart Schulze, said the last words his wife spoke to him were "I love you".
He said their life together was a "long, warm summer" and they were moving into their "long, warm autumn".
