Vic: Mother of crash victim criticises sentence

AAP General News (Australia)
04-01-2008
Vic: Mother of crash victim criticises sentence

MELBOURNE, April 1 AAP - The mother of one of six teenagers killed in the 2006 Mildura
crash says she is devastated convicted driver Thomas Towle plans to appeal his 10-year
jail sentence.

Carmel Calvi, whose 16-year-old daughter Josephine was killed when Towle drove at high
speed into a group of children while his four-year-old son sat on his lap, said Towle
was dragging out her grief.

The sentence has a seven-year minimum, but Towle has served more than two years in
pre-sentence detention and will be eligible for parole in about five years.

"His solicitor says he's remorseful, sorry for what he did, but he still wants to drag
this out even further because they think five years for killing six children is too much,"

she told the Nine Network.

"I still think the verdict is wrong. It doesn't make sense to me that someone can get
seven years for killing six people.

"It makes life a bit worthless."

Ms Calvi said the relatively light sentence sent out a message that driving with a
child on your lap "was okay", along with running from the scene of an accident.

"It sends out a message that it doesn't really make any difference whether you kill
one person or six or 10 ... it's the one act," she said.

"Besides all the lives he ruined including the children he killed and their families,
the children he injured, there are so many more children that are going to suffer with
this for the rest of their lives.

"Five years is nothing."

Towle's senior counsel, Robert Richter, QC, said he had unsuccessfully sought a five-year
sentence and had been instructed to appeal.

AAP gr/sjm/evt/de

KEYWORD: TOWLE CALVI

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