Latest news with #HyltonQuail
West Australian
14 hours ago
- West Australian
Secret Harbour man pleads guilty to Matthew Neary's 2020 hit and run death after four years unsolved
A young man has admitted being the driver in the hit-and-run death of a Rockingham dad that went unsolved for more than four years. Father of nine Matthew Neary was struck on Mandurah Road in Golden Bay in the early hours of November 22, 2020 as the 37-year-old walked home from his niece's 21st birthday party. The culprit fled the scene. A breakthrough in the case finally came last month, after police called on the public for information, releasing digitally reconstructed images of a Nissan Navara D40 ute captured driving in the area. It had been identified using improved CCTV enhancement technology and prompted multiple calls to police, resulting in the arrest of a 22-year-old man from Secret Harbour just two days later. The man, who cannot be named because he was aged 17 at the time, pleaded guilty in Perth Children's Court on Thursday to failing to stop and provide assistance after an incident occasioning death, and failing to report it to police. He is due to be sentenced before the court's President Hylton Quail on September 2. The man was swooped on by detectives while he sat in a stationary work van on Hay Street in Perth on a weekday afternoon. Police said he was still in possession of the Nissan at the time of his arrest but had changed its appearance after the public appeal for help, in a bid to conceal the crime. Outside court after the man's first appearance last month, Mr Neary's cousin Brody Rogers tearfully said he would 'always remember' the feeling of being told police had finally caught the driver as it gave the closure his family had waited for. Mr Rogers expressed sympathy for the man's distraught-looking parents, who also attended court. 'There's another family who's also just as heartbroken,' he said.
ABC News
04-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
P-plater jailed for killing Nick Campo in high-speed crash on way to Perth nightclub
A Perth teenager who was behind the wheel when his ute crashed, killing young footballer Nick Campo, has been sentenced to more than three years in jail. Mr Campo had been celebrating his 18th birthday in July last year when the car he was a passenger in hit a kerb, rolled and smashed into a Jeep on Farrington Road in North Lake. Five people were injured and Mr Campo died at the scene. The 17-year-old P-plate driver of the ute was charged with manslaughter, and three charges of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm. He was sentenced in the Perth Children's Court on Wednesday to three years and two months in prison, and must serve half of that before being eligible for parole. "This is a very tragic case," Children's Court president Hylton Quail said in sentencing him. "The consequences will live with the victims and their families forever". The now-18-year-old was due to be sentenced in May, but this was delayed due to a dispute over the potential role peer pressure and other evidence played in the tragedy. The group travelling in the car were eager to get Leederville's Daisy's nightclub, which they incorrectly believed had a midnight shut-out policy. The driver told the court the mood in the car was "amped" and "a bit rushed", especially after he had to stop at a service station for fuel. He said someone in the back seat told him to "gun it" through a red light, but that responsibility for the crash was his alone. The court heard from two passengers — both aged 18 — who survived the crash, with one telling the court he had little memory of the night. The other had been in the front passenger seat which was unbolted and facing the back of the car. He testified he also heard someone encourage the driver to speed and ignore the red light. The driver surrendered his bail in November as a show of remorse, with defence counsel Michael Tudori telling the court the teenager continued to have "vivid flashbacks" of the crash. Mr Tudori said the teenager had been attacked twice in custody and had his head stomped on during one of those incidents. He said the student managed to complete Year 12 last year, with his school encouraging him not to attend his graduation ceremony in person. Cars had long been the driver's passion, with the court hearing the front passenger seat had been removed while he conducted maintenance on the ute. Mr Tudori said the chair had been replaced in haste, and the driver had thought it "looked cool" and like a "limousine" with the seat facing the wrong direction. The matter has been heard in the District Court in Perth to accommodate the large number of supporters for the driver and the crash victims. Tensions have been high throughout the proceedings, with a fight breaking out between supporters for the driver and Mr Campo in the courthouse corridors last month. Mr Campo was one of 188 people killed on WA's roads last year, the highest road toll since 2016, when 195 people died. His family have spent the last year raising awareness about road safety to spare other parents.
