![Jayden Luke Taylor was sentenced in Tamworth District Court after his passenger was killed in a fatal rollover near Manilla. Picture file Jayden Luke Taylor was sentenced in Tamworth District Court after his passenger was killed in a fatal rollover near Manilla. Picture file](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/150521478/ce2c62cb-605e-4347-b3c9-f833e9264019.jpg/r0_0_1200_675_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A COURT has heard the mother of a man who was killed in a fatal ute rollover did not hold the driver responsible for the "terrible accident".
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The victim's mother had written in a reference letter, which was read out to Tamworth District Court, that she did not want the driver's life to be "shattered" as a result of the crash on the night of June 5, last year.
Jayden Luke Taylor was flanked by family members when he fronted sentencing this week for dangerous driving occasioning death.
The charge stemmed from the fatal rollover at Borah Creek, near Manilla.
The court heard the now 28-year-old was pig hunting with two men in a paddock when the Toyota Hilux he was driving lost control and rolled down a gully.
Taylor had stopped the vehicle and spotted a group of pigs in a paddock about 6.23pm, and let the two men climb onto the back of the ute tray.
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Taylor continued to drive the car through the paddock, before he heard the man who ultimately died in the accident yell out "woah".
Taylor hit the brakes as the car skidded then rolled in the gully, before coming to a rest on all four tyres.
The victim was conscious and talking, and told the other two he was okay.
Taylor helped the man into the back seat of the car, and drove back to the road to call an ambulance just after 7:30pm.
Emergency services arrived at Long Arm Road at Borah Creek just after 8pm, and treated the passenger for severe back and chest pain.
He tragically died a short time later.
During an interview with police on June 10, 2022, Taylor told the investigating officers he was focused on the pigs at the time of the crash, and hadn't driven in that paddock before.
He was charged after a three-month police investigation and pleaded guilty.
During a previous sentence hearing, Taylor broke down in the witness box when he was asked about the crash, and his friendship with the man who died.
At the time, he told the court he wished the crash "never ever happened".
During sentencing, Judge Andrew Coleman said it was a "tragic" matter.
"I accept he is genuinely remorseful," Judge Coleman said.
He said the death of a friend is something the 28-year-old would have to deal with for the rest of his life.
Judge Coleman said he accepted the Crown's submission that Taylor was driving too fast in an unfamiliar location at night, with two unrestrained passengers in the back of the ute.
But he said this was only for a short amount of time, and not a case of Taylor abandoning his responsibility as a driver.
Judge Coleman read from character references for Taylor, one of which was written by the mother of the victim, which spoke of the 28-year-old's good character and work ethic.
He said he did not accept the court should be concerned that Taylor had continued to go pig hunting since the accident, or that this would lead him to reoffend
Judge Coleman said he believed what Taylor had been through would make him take "necessary precautions" when hunting.
During the sentencing remarks, Judge Coleman said the punishment imposed needed to deter others from engaging in "dangerous acts behind the wheel".
He convicted Taylor and sentenced him to a 12-month community-based prison sentence, or intensive corrections order. He was disqualified from driving for 18 months.
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