Transport operator denies manslaughter charges over fatal truck driver crash near Adelaide
The operator of an Adelaide trucking company has denied killing one of his drivers by making him use an unroadworthy vehicle.
Fifty-five-year-old Peter Frances Colbert, owner-operator of Colbert Transport at Green Fields, pleaded not guilty of manslaughter in the Adelaide Magistrate's Court over the death of 45-year-old driver Robert Brimson.
Brimson died in March when the brakes on his truck allegedly failed and he crashed into a pole at Happy Valley, 20 kilometres south of Adelaide.
Colbert also pleaded not guilty to two counts of endangering the lives of two other people who had used the truck days before the fatal crash.
Prosecutor Elizabeth May told the magistrate in May that Colbert had failed to heed warnings from his drivers about brake failures.
Police allegedly intercepted phone calls and heard Colbert speak with an unqualified mechanic about undertaking work on at least one of three trucks to deceive inspectors at the Regency Park transport inspection depot.
Colbert remains in custody but is seeking bail after being ordered to face the District Court in December.
