'Biggest mistake': sergeant convicted after fatal crash
Mentally impacted and remorseful for what he called the biggest mistake of his life, a police officer who killed a bus driver after speeding through an intersection will serve time in the community after being convicted.
Senior Sergeant Justone Wong acknowledged at a hearing in June that he was speeding and not paying attention when he ploughed an unmarked police car into a bus 76-year-old Andy Leonello was driving on May 24, 2022.
The 42-year-old, who was on duty when the crash occurred in the semi-rural suburb Llandilo, in Sydney's west, pleaded guilty in March to dangerous driving causing death following the crash.
On Monday, the Frenchs Forest man was convicted and sentenced to 22 months, which will be served not in jail but in the community.
Judge Ross Hudson ordered Wong to complete 350 hours of community service work after finding public safety would be negatively impacted if the officer was locked up for his role in the fatal accident.
In delivering sentence, the judge told Campbelltown District Court that Wong had been speeding before he collided with the bus but had not noticed either the intersection or a non-compliant give-way sign.
The road was poorly marked, and water and mud from earlier rains further obscured the markings when Wong drove his white Ford Mondeo station wagon through the intersection.
Mr Leonello who ran a local bus company had on his way to pick up local schoolkids.
After the impact, he was thrown through the windscreen and ended up underneath the bus as it came to a halt.
With multiple blunt force injuries contributing to his death, evidence showed the 76-year-old had not been wearing a seatbelt at the time.
Wong was not intoxicated or on drugs, was not using his mobile phone and was not driving aggressively, the court found.
He immediately got out of his car and called emergency services, waiting till police and paramedics attended the scene and expressing remorse to witnesses.
In a letter of apology delivered to the court, the police officer called what he did that day "the biggest mistake of (his) life".
"I regret not knowing such a good man in my life and being the cause of his death," he wrote.
In sentencing the police officer, Judge Hudson took into account the sergeant was a person of good character, who had no prior criminal record and who had dedicated his life to fight crime.
Wong had been decorated for his involvement at the Lindt Cafe siege at Sydney's Martin Place in 2014.
His risk of re-offending was low, and his post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder stemming from the collision would be better treated if he remained in the community, the judge said.
He was disqualified from driving for two years.
Judge Hudson acknowledged the continued grief of Mr Leonello's family who had told the court of the pain and suffering caused by having their much beloved husband and father ripped away.
"Andy Leonello was undoubtedly a wise, caring man who was much loved," the judge said.
"On behalf of this court and the community and personally, I extend … my deepest sympathies."
