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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National

Man who crashed with child passenger had no licence due to seizure risk

Toronto courthouse. Picture by Marina Neil

A man who was driving with his young son not properly restrained in the back seat when he careered off a Toronto road and into a car port, which fell down, has never held a licence because he lives with epilepsy.

The 30-year-old told police who responded to the crash on Mt Waring Road about 11.30am on September 13 last year he believed he suffered a seizure just before the crash.

But police prosecutor Ashley Cooper told Toronto Local Court on Tuesday there was no evidence a medical episode caused the incident.

Magistrate Peter Barnett, SC, said regardless of whether the man suffered a seizure, he committed an act of dangerous driving by getting behind the steering wheel while knowing he was not allowed to drive because of his condition.

The court heard the Lake Macquarie man took his step father's Ford Raptor despite being told not to, put his four-year-old son in the middle back seat - with only an adult lap sash seatbelt rather than a child seat - and drove to buy something to eat.

He lost control of the vehicle, which crossed a raised median strip and travelled along the wrong side of the road before it hit a stop sign and went into a nearby driveway, where it crashed into a parked Hyundai i30 and a car port.

The car port fell on top of the Hyundai, which was unoccupied.

Mr Barnett on Tuesday warned the man not to drive again, saying it was a "serious example" of dangerous driving.

He sentenced him to 90 hours of community service, 15 months of supervision by Community Corrections, and fined him $1400.

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