A driver has been locked up for five-and-a-half years after being warned by police about a dangerous intersection before he drove through it and killed five people.
Minutes before one of the deadliest crashes in Victoria’s history, in April 2023, two officers told Christopher Joannidis about the roads in Strathmerton.
“We’ve had nine killed on it in the last 18 months, basically because people don’t see give way and stop signs,” a police officer told him, in a video played to the County Court in November.
However, the 31-year-old man did not heed this warning.
He crossed over three sets of rumble strip and ignored give way signs as he drove from Labuan Road onto the Murray Valley Highway.
Joannidis’ Mercedes Benz sedan crashed into a Nissan Navara ute, which had five people and a dog inside. The ute pushed into the path of a truck towing two milk trailers.
The ute’s driver Deborah Markey, 62, her dog Sophie, and four farm workers from Taiwan and Hong Kong staying at her home—Zhi-Yao Chen, Pin-Yu Wang, Wai Yan Lam and Hsin-Yu Chen—were all killed instantly.
Joannidis, who pleaded guilty to five counts of dangerous driving causing death, had his bail revoked when he faced the County Court in Melbourne in November.
Dangerous driving causing death is an offence which must receive a sentence of imprisonment, unless the court finds the accused qualifies for a legal exemption.
Defence barrister Paul Smallwood argued Joannidis shouldn’t be jailed because of his psychiatric conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“Jail for him will be very different than jail for someone without this disorder,” he told the court on the morning of Jan. 23.
But prosecutor Daniel Porceddu argued if Joannidis took anti-depressants and anti-psychotics—which he had refused to do—this could help manage his OCD.
“The person who has made imprisonment more burdensome is the prisoner himself,” he said.
Judge Gavan Meredith found a prison term was the only sentence he could hand down for the “horrific” crash given the seriousness of Joannidis’ offending.
However, he also took into account the driver’s remorse, good rehabilitation prospects, and how his mental health would impact his time behind bars.
The judge handed Joannidis a maximum five-year and six-month jail term.
Joannidis, who has already served 59 days of his sentence, will be eligible for parole after serving at least three years of his term.
