The heartbroken father of a man killed in a drug driving crash in South Australia has described the trauma of losing three children in three separate car crashes.
‘Jamie is not the first child I have lost in a road traffic accident… I also lost two daughters in accidents ten years apart,’ David Dumbleton said in his victim impact statement read to court this week.
‘I carry three wounds in my heart and they are not healing,’ he added.
Jamie Dumbleton, 26 (left) and Rebecca Greatley, 25 (right) were work colleagues and friends
A truck ploughed into Greatley’s car (pictured) when she got drove after smoking cannabis
Mr Dumbleton, 56, is in Port Augusta, South Australia for the trial of Rebecca Greatley, who was driving ‘high’ on marijuana when she crashed her car and killed Jamie.
Ms Greatley had picked her friend Jamie up from work in Port Pirie, when she failed to give way to a road train at a major intersection in May last year.
The court heard how she had smoked cannabis about an hour before getting behind the wheel to pick up her friends.
The truck ploughed into Ms Greatley’s car killing Jamie and injuring her other colleagues Lauren Canciani and Dylan O’Donnell-Middleton.
For 18 months the 25-year-old has consistently denied causing the fatal crash and has even, as they report, threatened The Advertiser with legal action over the reporting of her drug use.
But on Tuesday Ms Greatley pleaded guilty to killing Jamie while high on cannabis.
The 26-year-old was on a working holiday when he was killed.
David Dumbleton said his son ‘loved life, loved wildlife’ (Jamie pictured here with crocodile)
The 56-year-old father said his son Jamie (pictured) ‘was the main character in our family’
Greatley (pictured) changed her plea to guilty of causing Jamie’s death by dangerous driving
Outside the court, Mr Dumbleton told 9NEWS he remembered his son as happy, outgoing and fearless.
‘He loved life, loved wildlife. The photographs we have of at home are him riding elephants, in a tiger cage, swimming with sharks, in crocodile tanks,’ he said.
‘He also did a sky jump which he always wanted to do… he was fearless.
‘I think there was a lot more to come for Jamie but unfortunately that’s not going to happen.
‘He was the main character in our family… we’re just so proud of him for what he’s done,’ Mr Dumbleton added.
In a victim impact statement Jamie’s mother, Angie Dumbleton, wrote: ‘I can honestly say that the worst day of my life was when two policemen came to my house and told me Jamie had died… we kept praying it wasn’t him,’ she said.
Danny Dumbleton described the anger and resentment he felt over his brother’s death: ‘Jamie’s life is over. He is dead. He will never get the chance to live his life and have a family. He would’ve been a great father.
‘When she got behind the wheel of the car on drugs, she didn’t just kill my brother, she killed my best friend,’ he said.
Ms Greatley cried in the dock as she heard the impact her crime has had on the Dumbleton family.
‘I just want the accused to know she has hurt so many people by taking Jamie away from me and us … she has caused so much grief,’ Stacey Dumbleton, Jamie’s sister, told the court.
‘It’s her fault that he’s dead … now my daughter will never know her uncle.
‘It is unfair that such a beautiful person was taken too early.
Mr Dumbleton (pictured) said he carries ‘three wounds in my heart and they are not healing’
Jamie (pictured) was on a working holiday when he was killed in a drug driving crash in SA
‘And it’s because of someone else’s stupid, careless actions,’ she said.
Craig Ethelton, the truck driver involved in the collision, told the court how he has to drive past the crash scene for work.
‘Every night, I am reminded of these events,’ he said.
‘I know the accident was not my fault but I was driving the truck that killed a man and that will stay with me for the rest of my life.’
Mr Dumbleton said he has no anger towards the truck driver: ‘I think he was relieved when he said sorry and I said you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You’ve done your job and there are three other people still alive because of it,’ he said.
‘To me, he’s a hero.’
Ms Greatley is due to be sentenced before Christmas.