‘No insight’ shown by killer driver

Family members of slain teenager Harrison “Harry” Payne packed Brisbane District Court as Lynden Joshua Roby learnt his fate for causing the 18-year-old’s untimely death while driving on a beach north of Brisbane last year.In a disturbing twist, Crown prosecutor Mark McCarthy told the court that Roby, 20, had racked up multiple traffic offences after Mr Payne’s life was taken.These included speeding through school zones, driving unlicensed, crossing red lights and fitting his car with unroadworthy tyres.Mr McCarthy said Roby was found performing doughnuts in a new building estate five months after Mr Payne’s death.“His post offence conduct does not speak of an individual who has insight to the serious offending behaviour he engaged in,” Mr McCarthy said.He said Roby was a “continuing danger to the community” while driving.Mr Payne’s family members and supporters – donning black shirts adorned with The Harrison Payne Initiative logos – spilt over two courtrooms during the sentencing process.Roby last week pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing Mr Payne’s death.The court was told Roby, 20, was driving his 4WD on Ocean Beach in Woorim on May 30, 2021, with Mr Payne in the passenger seat.Mr McCarthy said the pair were part of a “convoy” of young people who had met at the beach.“They appeared, at times, to be racing each other,” he said.Roby had claimed the pair were “friends” but Mr McCarthy said it was questionable as they had limited history together.Multiple people were at the camping ground at the time of the offence and saw the drivers, including Roby, driving dangerously as people camped, fished and swam in the ocean.Roby performed “power slides”, doughnuts and fishtails before his car rolled on the driver’s side.Mr Payne was thrown from the vehicle onto the wet sand and died at the scene.Mr McCarthy said Roby claimed he tried to straighten up and brake but was not forthcoming with his full driving.“Over a protracted period, the defendant engaged in deliberately dangerous driving,” he said.“The vehicle was driven at excessive speeds … he had participated in a course of driving which was clearly dangerous.”Mr McCarthy emphasised that Roby’s conduct after the fatal crash showed he had “no insight” to his offending as he had been caught by police for multiple traffic offences.One involved him performing burnouts in an industrial estate just five months after the crash.In others committed throughout the year, he was caught speeding in school zones and driving through red lights.A Snapchat taken by Roby in June last year was tendered to the court. Mr McCarthy said the 20-year-old could be heard revving an engine excessively as others laughed in the background.Mr McCarthy also showed images of Roby’s TikTok, where he brags in March he has come “a long way” in a couple of months while posing with a new Nissan Navara.The court was told it was the same vehicle Roby was pulled over in by police for some of the traffic offences.In heartbreaking victim impact statements, members of Mr Payne’s family spoke of their “constant grief” and how their house, once filled with laughter, was now “tainted with sadness”.Harrison’s father Kent claimed Roby had shown “no remorse” since his son’s death by insisting he had done nothing wrong.“What an absolute joke,” he said.“I’m so disgusted, so appalled by your actions.“You took Harry from us, you are responsible for his death. It should never have happened.”Harrison’s mother Kylie said the last moments she spent with her son were “beautiful”, as the family joked about the pants he was wearing to a friend’s party.Tragically, these pants – bought with a birthday vouched weeks earlier – were the same ones her son would be cremated in.“The thought of my baby boy, alone by himself, still breaks my heart,” Ms Payne said.“I wanted to be with him, to hold his hand, keep him warm.“We lost a devoted son, someone who always saw the positive in every negative.”Roby’s barrister Patrick Wilson said his client had penned a letter where he indicated remorse, grief and the “profound impact on what he’s done”.“He acknowledges the harm he has caused, to Harry’s family,” Mr Wilson said.“He speaks of being consumed by overwhelming feelings of grief, going into a self-destructive episode.“He says he suffers from depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.”The court was told Roby was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and was “mentally unstable” after the crash.Mr Wilson said his client was “not a man in a good frame of mind”.During discussions with a psychiatrist, Roby said he wished he had died in the crash instead of Mr Payne, the court was told.He otherwise had no criminal history or anti-social personality traits. Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au