Transport Accident Commission
Background notes for teachers
On 3 January 2008, Brenton Chaplin was driving at high speed and under the influence of alcohol when he lost control of the car. It was estimated that, at the time, Chaplin’s blood alcohol reading was 0.085. The car hit a pole. His best friend, Leigh Charter Jnr, was killed. They were both 20 years old.
In the car was a group of young men from the Harcourt area, enjoying afew days together at the beach at Seaspray. They drove there in two cars,had been to Sale for supplies and enjoyed an evening barbecue together.On the evidence presented at the trial, they were all drinking. It was agreedthat Brenton Chaplin would drive the relatively short distance to visit afriend as it was considered that he had consumed the least amount ofalcohol. As a probationary driver, it was unlawful for him to drive with anyalcohol in his blood.
Driving at an estimated speed of 126 kilometres per hour in an 80 kilometresper hour zone, Brenton Chaplin’s car veered onto the gravel and he lostcontrol. According to eyewitness testimony, the rear passenger side of thevehicle collided with an electricity pole. The car rolled a number of timesand eventually came to rest on its wheels about 40 metres from the pole.As a result of the impact, both Leigh Charter Jnr and his brother Billy wereejected from the vehicle. The three other occupants of the car remained inthe vehicle and received only minor injuries. Leigh Charter Jnr suffered fatalinjuries and died at the scene. Billy Charter was also injured. He sufferedbruised kidneys and an injured back.
Many months after the crash, in an act of apparent revenge, Leigh CharterSnr (the father of Leigh Jnr and Billy) visited the Chaplin family home andmurdered Brenton Chaplin’s mother, seriously injured his father and brother,and stabbed his cousin. Shortly after, Leigh Charter Snr committed suicide.
On 15 February 2010 Chaplin was sentenced to four years imprisonmentafter pleading guilty to one count of culpable driving. A non-parole periodof 18 months was fixed. Under the Victorian law, the maximum sentencefor culpable driving is 20 years imprisonment. Although, as the trial judgenoted, this was ‘by no means the worst example of culpable driving’, it wasnevertheless to be viewed as a serious example of the offence.
Chaplin later appealed against the County Court sentence on the groundsthat it was excessive, under the circumstances. In June 2010, the Court ofAppeal dismissed the case stating in its findings that the original sentence,which saw a minimum jail term of 18 months, was ‘exceptionally low’.
VCE Legal Studies1