No jail time over crash
Suspended sentence despite severe injury
A DIRT bike rider has been spared time behind bars after a Cairns judge found he had not deliberately tried to run a man down.
Daniel Cronn was convicted of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm after he rode a $300 bike into Scott Kruger, who said his forearm was “swinging in the breeze” after the crash.
The 25-year-old had pleaded not guilty to the offence, which occurred on a grass path parallel to Ramsey Dr in June last year, claiming it was an accident, but a jury found him guilty last week.
The impact severely broke Mr Kruger’s arm in two places and he needed surgery to insert metal plates, pins and screws.
Yesterday Cronn hugged his family in tears after learning he would be placed on a wholly suspended 18-month imprisonment term meaning he won’t have to spend any time in jail.
“This wasn’t a deliberate act,” Cairns District Court Judge Dean Morzone said.
“You weren’t intending to drive this man down. It was nevertheless avoidable.”
Mr Kruger, frustrated by the noise of motorbikes in the area after just putting his 12month-old daughter to sleep, had walked from his home to the nature strip to confront the riders.
Rather than stopping the bike, which was travelling about 30-40km/h, Cronn crashed into Mr Kruger and as a result his arm was badly broken. Cronn and his girlfriend Cass Hopper, who was the pillion passenger, were also knocked out and injured in the collision.
Defence barrister Joseph Jacobs downplayed Cronn’s actions as a “stupid decision” not to stop that led to the accident.
However, crown prosecutor Aaron Dunkerton said that the jury had found Cronn guilty of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and to characterise it as a stupid lapse of judgment “diminishes the serious conduct that occurred”.
The court heard that Cronn had never spent any time in jail and had worked as a roof plumber for about 10 years. He also acted as a carer for Ms Hopper. Cronn was also banned from holding a licence for 12 months.
editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost