THE wife and daughter of respected blood transfusion scientist Tony Greenfield have described witnessing the horrifying moment he was run down and killed by a "blind drunk" Kenneth Wayne Grant and condemned the retired police inspector for his "endless" and selfish refusal to accept responsibility.
Ken Grant, now 72, had claimed he was in a somnambulistic state and was not driving voluntarily when he hit and killed Mr Greenfield at Bolwarra on November 30, 2019.
Ken Grant and Mr Greenfield had been at the same Christmas party and Mr Greenfield was walking the short distance to his accommodation about 11.25pm when he was struck from behind and killed on Flat Road.
Ken Grant, who witnesses at the party described as being "hammered" and "extremely intoxicated", did not stop after the crash and instead sped away, veering left and right across the road and mounting a median strip.
A short time later, he led police on a pursuit along Belmore Road at Lorn despite driving with two flat tyres.
"My son is Troy Grant, the police minister," Ken Grant immediately told police after he finally pulled his car over. "And I am pissed."
A breath test revealed Ken Grant had a blood alcohol reading of 0.108 and in interviews with police he claimed to have no knowledge of the fatal hit-and-run on Flat Road.
During a powerful victim impact statement on Friday, Nerida Greenfield described the last few seconds of her husband's life, the huge hole his death had left in their family and community and denounced Ken Grant's inability to accept responsibility and his son Troy Grant's attempts to "spin" the situation to evoke sympathy.
"We've had to listen to: "Dad would give his life to have Tony back" and "Dad can't speak highly enough of him"," Mrs Greenfield said. "That was all just spin, Tony had never even met him before. "The endless refusal to accept responsibility was front and centre in our lives for two very long years and meant we were unable to lead normal lives. "All that time we were waiting for some miraculous diagnosis to explain his behaviour and in the end there wasn't one. He was just drunk."
Mr Greenfield's daughter, Bronwen Greenfield, spoke directly to Ken Grant and attempted to have him understand how his decision had impacted so many lives.
"In the last two years you have dragged my family through the mud with the intention of protecting yourself," Bronwen Greenfield said.
Judge John Hatzistergos will sentence Ken Grant at a later date.
