By Aap
The man who put a truck driver behind the wheel while high on drugs and short on sleep before he killed four police officers has avoided prison.
Connect Logistics supervisor Simiona Tuteru, 52, was handed a three-year community corrections order on Wednesday, almost four years after he allowed Mohinder Singh to drive a 19-tonne truck.
After a sleepless night, Singh arrived at the company’s Lyndhurst depot and asked Tuteru to break a witch’s curse on him, since his boss was a church pastor.
Singh was high on methamphetamine and having visions.
The supervisor placed his hands on Singh’s head and recited a prayer, before asking him to drive a truckload that afternoon, on 22 April, 2020.
Singh drove the truck down Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway and veered into an emergency lane.
He hit three cars, including two police vehicles.
Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King and constables Josh Prestney and Glen Humphris, were all killed.
Tuteru was initially charged with four counts of manslaughter, but those charges were dropped about six days before he was due to face trial.
He pleaded guilty to a single heavy vehicle offence in 2023, for failing to comply with his duties in the chain of responsibility.
Tuteru, dressed in a suit and tie, remained silent and stared straight ahead as he was handed the three-year community corrections order.
He must perform 200 hours of unpaid community work over that time.
Justice James Elliott said Singh was a “very unreliable witness” and rejected his evidence that he told Tuteru he did not sleep before he put him behind the wheel.
He also took into account the drawn out court proceedings Tuteru had faced, which included a judge placing a stay on the prosecution’s case and that being taken to the Court of Appeal.
“This proceeding has been a drawn out process conducted in a way … that could not be described as optimal or efficient,” Justice Elliott said.
The prosecution had conceded during pre-sentence hearings that a non-custodial sentence was within range.
Tuteru will walk free from court on Wednesday.
Singh is serving an 18-and-a-half-year jail term, which was reduced from 22 years on appeal after he agreed to give evidence against Tuteru.
