A 32-year-old Katherine man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison, suspended after 12 months, for the death of a boy who fell from a caravan travelling on a Northern Territory road.
Jonathon David Igescu was driving a ute and towing a caravan near Katherine in June this year when Brettson Payne fell from the caravan, suffering fatal head and internal injuries.
Nine children between the ages of five and 14, including six who were unrestrained, had been inside.
Igescu was sentenced for driving a motor vehicle causing death and engaging in reckless conduct which gave rise to a danger of death.
Igescu was friends with the families of the nine children. None of the children were his.
In handing down the jail sentence, Supreme Court Justice Judith Kelly said Igescu had "breached the trust" of the children's families.
"You endangered the child's life. You knew the children were in danger," she said.
She said Igescu engaged in behaviour that was "reckless in the extreme" on the weekend of Brettson's death.
Child spotted on bonnet day before fatal incident
The day before the fatal journey, a witness had spotted one child sitting on the bonnet of Igescu's car while it was moving at between 60 and 70 kilometres per hour.
On the day of the fatal incident, one of the children was allowed to sit on Igescu's lap to steer the car down the highway.
It was during that trip that Brettson opened the caravan's door and fell out.
"The wind caught that door and it slammed open, and the little boy fell out where he lay on the road," Justice Kelly said.
"He was unresponsive. You drove him to Katherine Hospital, where it was found he had suffered a large laceration to his head, bleeding in the brain, and significant chest and head injuries."
The court heard both the ute and the caravan were unroadworthy.
Justice Kelly said she recognised Igescu did not have a criminal record and he had clearly been affected by Brettson's death.
'It's our first Christmas without Brettson'
Speaking outside court, Brettson's older sister, Nikaiya Payne, said the sentence gave the family a sense justice had been served.
"It's not enough to bring Brettson back, but as long as the defendant is behind bars that's all we're happy about really," she said.
"Today has been hard for us, but as long as we're getting some sort of justice that's what matters.
"We're trying to get through it every day."
Ms Payne, 19, said the family would feel Brettson's loss over Christmas.
"We all miss him. It's our first Christmas without Brettson, so it's going to be hard," she said.
"There's meant to be eight of us opening presents and there's only seven of us now."
She said she hoped Brettson's death would make others think twice about taking risks on the road.
"The message is: Doing stupid things on the road can harm children and Brettson's not coming back," she said.
