A truckie who killed a man during a road-rage incident will serve ten months in prison after his sentence was successfully appealed on mental health grounds.
Morgan Haverfield-Price crushed Joe Bucca with his concrete-pumping truck in Sydney's north on December 1, 2021.
The pair overtook each other five times over 500 metres during peak-hour traffic before Mr Bucca stopped and got out of his Ford Focus in an apparent act of road rage.
In what he says was an attempt to escape the situation, Haverfield-Price drove off and struck Mr Bucca.
He was sentenced in March 2024 to two years' jail with a non-parole period of 16 months for negligent driving and reckless driving occasioning death, but appealed the sentence and conviction.
Haverfield-Price lost the appeal against his conviction but had six months taken off both his full sentence and non-parole period on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old's sentence was reduced after Sydney District Court Judge Jane Culver found his mental health issues reduced his moral culpability.
But they did not excuse the offences, she said.
Haverfield-Price was suffering from depression, attention deficit disorder and was dependent on cannabis at the time of the offence, psychologist Donald Rowe told Judge Culver.
He also developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the incident, Dr Rowe said.
Haverfield-Price's barrister Arjun Chhabra argued prison would be counterproductive for his client's rehabilitation.
"There is a profound mental health case in this matter," Mr Chhabra said.
"The non-parole period will have a stop-clock effect."
The psychologist argued Haverfield-Price would not reoffend if he continued treatment, but crown prosecutor Wayne Penning disputed this assertion.
In the years leading up to the offence, Haverfield-Price recorded multiple serious driving offences including speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol, Mr Penning said.
At the time of the offence, Haverfield-Price was on bail for another serious road-rage offence that occurred eight weeks prior.
Judge Culver said this was a significant factor in her decision to maintain a prison sentence.
"The community is entitled to feel outraged at those circumstances," she said.
"It is greatly troubling to the court."
Judge Culver said a custodial sentence was necessary to deter Haverfield-Price from reoffending, and ordered the truck driver to spend 10 months in prison without parole.
Haverfield-Price is also banned from driving for almost two years, after already serving a year of the suspension.
