The father of a teenager killed in a high-speed car chase in Melbourne has described how he is haunted by flashbacks of the charred remains of his “baby girl”.
Ivana Clonaridis, 18, and her boyfriend Harley Churchill, 19, died on January 27, 2016 when their ute exploded in a fireball while drag racing along Western Ring Road.
The killer Adem Arpaci, then 21, who goaded them into the race was found guilty of killing the pair in February this year.
Ivana Clonaridis, 18, and her boyfriend Harley Churchill, 19, died when their ute exploded in a fireball while drag racing along the Western Ring Road
Adem Arpaci, then 21, goaded them into the race and was found guilty of killing the pair in February this year
Their ute exploded on impact, killing the pair after Churchill lost control of the vehicle
The car they were illegally drag-racing in smashed through a guard rail on the EJ Whitten Bridge and plunged 15 meters off the freeway, bursting into flames on impact.
Witnesses claimed they saw two cars flying past before Mr Churchill, who had ice in his system and was driving at 182km/h, lost control of his blue Holden Ute.
Ignos Clonaridis on Monday told the court how he is still haunted by flashbacks of his daughters fiery death, two years after it happened.
‘I spend many nights alone at the crash site trying to understand why,’ he said in a victim impact statement.
‘She was too young to die. She had so many dreams, so many plans and they were gone in a split second.’
Clonaridis and Churchill died after the car they were illegally drag-racing in smashed through a guard rail and plunged 15 meters off the freeway
It was also reveled that Arpaci had made a false statement to detectives in the days following saying he had not seen the crash
‘I will never be the same again. My happiness died that night with my baby girl,’
Mr Clonaridis said that his relationship with his new wife had broken down and he had not been able to work because of his grief.
‘I often have flashbacks of seeing my daughter’s charred remains at the mortuary,’ he said.
It was also revealed that Arpaci had made a false statement in the days following, telling investigators he was in the area but had not seen the crash.
A day later he admitted to detectives that he had been behind the wheel of the other car.
Defence lawyer Russ Hammill said that since the crash Arpaci had become a recluse
Defence lawyer Russ Hammill said that on the night Churchill had somewhat influenced Arpaci’s behavior, a matter the crown acknowledged to be true.
Mr. Hammill also said that Arpaci had no other criminal convictions and was otherwise a young man of ‘exemplary character.’
He also said that Arpaci had become a ‘recluse’ after the crash and was ‘mentally decomposing.’
Arpaci will be sentenced on March 16 in the Victorian County Court.