Kenneth Wayne Grant, the father of former NSW police minister Troy Grant, has been sentenced to nearly four years in jail for a drunken hit-and-run death in the Hunter region.
Grant, a former police inspector himself, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison in Newcastle District Court this afternoon, with a non-parole period of just under two years.
In sentencing, Judge John Hatzistergos said Grant was significantly intoxicated, had a high degree of moral culpability, and took into consideration the "substantial harm" caused to the victim's family.
Kenneth Grant had a blood alcohol level of 0.194 when he got behind the wheel of his ute after a Christmas party near Maitland in November 2019.
The court heard Grant swerved onto the wrong side of the road and killed 62-year-old Tony Greenfield who was walking along the side of the road with his wife, who had attended the same party.
Grant did not stop the vehicle.
A short time later he overtook a taxi at high speed, the court heard, and was observed by the taxi driver to be erratically swerving onto the wrong side of the road with panel damage on the car and a busted tyre.
He was later spotted by police in Maitland and led them on a short pursuit before being arrested.
'Reprehensible act'
Former NSW Liberal police minister Troy Grant was in court and hugged his father before he was taken into custody.
Mr Grant broke down speaking to media outside the courthouse.
"It's us, it's not about Dad, it's only about the Greenfield family," he said.
"No sentence will ever be good enough for them, be acceptable, or pay tribute to the life that was taken in a reprehensible act that I still can't understand."
During his judge-alone trial in December, Kenneth Grant maintained he had no memory of the incident.
Mr Grant said his father was confused.
"For two years, Dad has lived in a confused state of who he thought he killed, he'd never met Tony, he thought he was somebody else, and that just adds to the evidence of how muddled his mind is," Mr Grant said.
Widow tells of nightmares, unbearable pain
Mr Greenfield was a respected scientist who at the time of his death was a new grandparent and planning for retirement with his wife of 34 years.
The court heard that witnessing Mr Greenfield's death had left his wife suffering nightmares, panic attacks, intrusive memories and "recurring flashbacks of how the body felt in her arms".
Her harrowing victim impact statement said she "relived the accident repeatedly, like a video, of her husband flying through the air".
His daughter's victim impact statement said their pain "could only be described as unbearable".
She also condemned Grant for pleading not guilty and "dragging them through the mud" by taking the matter to trial.
Judge Hatzistergos said he took into account Grant's clean record, good standing in the community, and "notable level of assistance" despite pleading not guilty.
Grant faced a maximum sentence of 23 years in jail after being found guilty in December of three charges, including dangerous driving occasioning death, failing to stop and assist, and not stopping during a police pursuit.
He will be eligible for parole on February 2, 2024.
Troy Grant was the police minister between 2017 and 2019, but had left the position eight months before his father's deadly crash.
