"I got into a car accident, I need your help. I think I killed someone, I'll pay you lots of money to take me to Canberra."
The desperate plea was made in the early hours of November 19, 2023, by self-proclaimed burnout enthusiast Marcus William Hargrave.
The person he had just killed before fleeing the fatal Cooma scene in a drunken panic was his friend, Michael Ryan, or "Smiley".
"A year ago, Michael Ryan was at a party enjoying himself with his fiancee," Judge Jennifer English said on Tuesday during sentencing proceedings.
"He was not to know that as a result of getting into a motor vehicle with the offender, he would miss out on his wedding, becoming a loving husband, having another chance at fatherhood.
"He died through no fault of his own. All his thoughts, hopes and dreams ended instantly in a collision that occurred solely because of the actions of this offender.
"Someone who cold-heartedly left his friend dead in a motor vehicle and walked away without even trying to render assistance, or remain with him, or immediately call emergency services."
'Extremely cowardly'
Hargrave faced the Queanbeyan District Court after pleading guilty to manslaughter "by gross negligence".
The judge said the Berridale man, who received a 10-year jail term and a six-year-and-six-month non-parole period, "acted in an extremely cowardly fashion".
According to court documents, the 24-year-old offender and Mr Ryan had been drinking with friends on a Saturday night when the pair got into Hargrave's uninsured and unregistered Ford Falcon.
A vehicle Hargrave had previously described to another friend as a "skid car".
The offender performed a burnout, while driving at about 90kmh on a 50kmh residential street, over 70 metres.
His car left the dry road, spun and crashed into a tree, instantly killing the victim, who was not wearing a seatbelt.
"I think I killed Smiley," a visibly injured Hargrave yelled after rushing to a nearby party.
The man would eventually get hold of someone who agreed to pick him up, but he refused to go to the local hospital or the scene of the crash. He instead asked to be taken to Canberra Hospital.
"I killed him, I was trying to do something really f---ing dumb in the car," Hargrave said.
"I was in first gear, at least doing 90kmh, coming out of my street doing a fishy and I f---ed up and killed him."
The man kept repeating that he hated himself and wished he had not walked away, also asking: "Can you just say that I was out on a property at Googong?"
Hargrave would be arrested at Canberra Hospital just before 2am. He was found to be more than two-and-a-half times over the legal limit after an alcohol breath test.
Burnout history
"The offender admitted to [an AFP officer] whilst under police guard at Canberra Hospital that he enjoys doing burnouts and visits the old tyre place in Cooma to get tyres so he doesn't ruin his new tyres," court documents state.
Police later found two spare tyres in the crashed Ford Falcon and discovered Hargrave's provisional licence was suspended for multiple driving offences, including doing a "sustained" burnout on Cooma's main street.
A crime scene officer found the man had intentionally disconnected one of his car's break lines, common with vehicles used for burnouts.
There was also a buildup of shredded rubber in both rear wheel arches of the Ford Falcon, consistent with continual burnouts.
"I find that there was a high degree of recklessness in the offender's driving which resulted in the tragic death of Michael Ryan," Judge English said.
"The offender had purposefully altered the breaking system of his motor vehicle in order to make it a 'skid car'. This was not an opportunistic offence committed by a young 18-year-old showing off to his mate."
The judge found the man to be "generally remorseful" but said it was difficult to be definitive about that after he had attempted to disagree with facts of the case he pleaded guilty to.
Judge English also said Hargrave's prospects of rehabilitation were somewhat guarded given his "complete disregard for the law", citing the man reoffending so soon after losing his licence.
"Of the wholly unnecessary and avoidable death of Michael Ryan, the terrible finality of what the offender did cannot be undone by anything the offender does during the rest of his life," Judge English said.
"Nor by any punishment this court imposes."
Hargrave has spent exactly one year behind bars for his crimes, which include driving a vehicle while disqualified, drive an unregistered vehicle and drive and uninsured motor vehicle.
He will be eligible for parole in May 2030.
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