澳醉漢駕車撞死六少年，其基督徒父親稱是上帝對少年們的懲罰

Thomas Towle's father places blame on Mildura crash victims
Article from: Herald Sun

Terry Brown and Russell Robinson

March 11, 2008 08:57am

THE father of road menace Thomas Towle made an extraordinary rant against the Mildura crash victims this morning, saying they had 'no respect for the law'.

Mr Towle railed against those he claimed were demonising his son, including the parents of the six teenagers killed in the crash for which his son was found guilty of dangerous driving.

"Those parents said Tom had no respect for the law. If you take the emotion out of it, those teenagers had no respect for the law."

"They're single parents . . . those kids tend to be more disruptive. I know more about those kids than you do."

"I'm suffering loss and grief, same as (those parents) are," he said on 3AW.  

He went on to rant about the issue of teenage drunkenness, and "bottle shops that sold grog openly", suggesting that new measures being introduced by the Rudd Government to curb binge drinking might be better spent policing roads in his locality.

"There's not too many teenagers on grog that have much respect for the law," he said.

Mr Towle also expressed anger that the "mates" of the victims who had been "crying at the funerals" had staged parties in the weeks after the deaths.

Mr Towle said that it was "very hurtful" for him to see his son "on front pages as an ogre".

When it was suggested that his son could face a long stint in jail, Mr Towle said he'd be "very, very surprised".

"This isn't America. We don't sentence people to multiple years in jail.

"The judge knows more about this case than you or I do, he's not stupid."

A distraught Karen Hirst, aunt of Abbey and Shane Hirst, responded.

「I cannot believe what that man has just said, it has just dumbfounded me," Ms Hirst said.

「For one, Abbey and Shane, and I』ve seen the toxicology reports, did not have any alcohol in their systems.」

"They weren』t walking all over the road. What he said is just disgraceful.」

Ms Hirst said she could understand Mr Towle's loyalty to his son, but she said he needed to open his eyes in regards to his son』s behaviour.

Yesterday, Mr Towle infuriated grieving families by saying his son has served "more than enough" jail time for killing six teenagers.

And he said he expected his son to walk free within days of his sentencing.

"Poor bloody Thomas is the one that's suffering," the 63-year-old told the Herald Sun. "I think he's done two years' jail, and that's more than enough.

"If Tom gets sent for five years with three (minimum), he should be up before the parole board in a couple of days. He'll be released in a couple weeks. He's been a bloody model prisoner."

Towle, 36, was found not guilty of culpable driving but guilty of six counts of dangerous driving causing death after he veered into the teenagers at Cardross, near Mildura, two years ago.

Graham Towle, a Pentecostal Christian who believes the end of the world is coming, has "Touched by the road toll" stickers on his car.

He blamed the teenagers, their families, the road conditions, the car suspension and God's vengeance for the carnage.

"The parents did not even know where their bloody children were that night," he said.

Mr Towle, who drives B-double trucks and carries a metal-covered Bible with him, credited prayer for his son's escaping conviction on six charges of culpable driving causing death, which carry 20-year maximum sentences.

"Whose fault? Why does a volcano blow up? Why does a plane crash? It's sin!" he said.

But the victims' families - still angry that Towle was found not guilty of the more serious charges - were shocked by the call for his early release.

Carmel Calvi, whose 16-year-old daughter Josie died from injuries suffered in the crash, branded the comments "pretty disgusting and pretty low".

"It's everyone's fault but his son's," Mrs Calvi said.

"Our kids' time is for life. Our sentence is for life."

Sharon Manners, who lost her 16-year-old daughter Cassandra, said she was shocked by Mr Towle's call.

"No, two years is not enough," she said. "I hope his sentence reflects the justice that we haven't seen so far.

"He may have been cleared of those counts, but he's still guilty of what the jury has found him guilty of. He should be staying there for a while."

Marco Medici, who suffered horrific injuries, said: "I don't think that's right. He should stay there a lot longer, I reckon."

Mrs Calvi and other parents of the young victims were exhausted and frustrated yesterday, a day after a Supreme Court jury in Melbourne acquitted Towle of six counts of culpable driving.

They called for an overhaul of court rules that prohibit prior convictions being divulged to a jury.

Towle's prior convictions include eight counts of driving while his licence was disqualified or cancelled and two for drink-driving. "This is not just a one-off that happens by accident," Mrs Calvi said.

Terry Hirst, who lost daughter Abby and son Shane in the tragedy, condemned the law and called for change.

"You look in the paper today and you find all these convictions. This man should not even be on the road. That is the problem," he said.

"Betrayed is an understatement. I just cannot believe that the jury weren't told about his priors, and they should have been."
And Mrs Calvi's former husband Vince, Josie's father, said juries should know about prior offences "100 per cent".

"They should know. If they don't know, how do they know the sort of person they're letting off?" he said.

"Something has got to be done. This is really major. It's wrong, just so wrong, and it's ended wrong.

"If I was the jury and knew everything now, I'd be feeling pretty terrible."

Killed in the crash on February 18, 2006, were Shane Hirst, 16, his sister Abby Hirst, 17, Stevie-Lee Weight, 15, Cassandra Manners, 16, Cory Dowling, 16, and Josephine Calvi, 16.

Towle is facing a maximum five years' jail on each of six charges of dangerous driving causing death.

[ 本帖最後由 liebling 於 2008-3-11 21:52 編輯 ]