KILLER TURNS BLIND EYE

No clear vision No licence No remorse

KILLER driver Bradley Azzopardi, pictured, knew his eyesight was so bad he should not have been driving when he hit a cyclist at Anakie and heartlessly drove from the scene of the fatal crash.

The heavily tattooed Azzopardi was also a disqualified driver when he killed beloved cyc- list Gordon Ibbs on Mother’s Day, 2015, the Geelong County Court heard yesterday.

Judge Gerard Mullaly was told about the lengths Azzopardi went to to conceal his crime before his dramatic public arrest six months later at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court, and also heard heartfelt testimony about the impact on the Ibbs family.

Azzopardi will be sentenced on Monday.

In considering sentencing, the judge will also take into account the jail terms he is serving for serious drugs and driving offences prosecuted after the courthouse arrest.

The two most serious charges the 26-year-old defendant has pleaded guilty to — counts of dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop after an accident — carry maximum jail terms of 10 years.

Azzopardi also admitted he was driving while disqualified on the day of the crash, resisted arrest and was guilty of possessing ammunition.

Crown prosecutor Sally Flynn said Mr Ibbs, 77, died almost instantly after being hit from behind by Azzopardi’s maroon VT Holden Commodore while riding Geelong Ballan Rd mid-afternoon on May 10, 2015.

Ms Flynn said the defendant knew his eyesight was badly impaired and should not have been driving without glasses or contact lenses.

“(The impact) shunted the victim into the air and almost 40m forward,” she said.

“The accused failed to take any evasive action.

“He was well aware of the fact he’d struck the victim. He doesn’t even get out of the car.

“(He drives on) without so much as a backward glance.”

With damage to the windscreen and roof, Azzopardi drove to a home on Emmerson Rd, Lovely Banks, where he and friend Jeremy Robertson covered the vehicle with tin to hide it from police helicopters.

The car was found two days later at Winchelsea’s Wurdiboluc Reserve, around the time Azzopardi — who has links to the Bandidos bike gang — was identified as a suspect.

By June police were surveilling the man’s phone, including his repeated access to stories about their investigation of the case on the Geelong Advertiser website, and on November 23 they arrested him when he showed up at court to face different charges.

Lawyer Christopher Farrington said Azzopardi was illiterate, having given up school eight weeks into Year 7, but was a hard worker with a supportive family.

Mr Farrington said the defendant was a promising amateur boxer — with 14 wins from 16 fights — before the eye condition keratoconous ended his career.

He said “Mr Azzopardi has never been told he should not drive” because of his eye condition, but the prosecution noted a magistrate ordered him off the roads for a year six months earlier after finding him guilty of careless driving, two counts of driving suspended and speeding.

“The accused is a person who knew the limitations of his eyesight . . . he’s a disqualified driver in any event,” Ms Flynn said.

Mr Mullaly agreed, and said he would take these factors into account while considering Azzopardi’s sentence.