A convicted rapist, once jailed for tricking a prostitute into sex, has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a four-year-old boy in a crash on the Monaro Highway at Hume.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Canberra boy Blake Corney was killed on July 28, 2018, when a truck crashed into the back of a Ford Territory he was travelling to Toys R Us in with his parents and two-year-old brother.
Blake's aunt Christine Heard told The Canberra Times days after the crash that the little boy had so much energy he lifted the spirits of everyone around him.
The truck driver responsible for the crash, Akis Emmanouel Livas, 57, pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday to a charge of culpable driving causing death.
Livas is yet to agree on a statement of facts, but court documents say his driving was considered culpable because he had been "on notice" since 2013 that he may have sleep apnoea.
Livas never sought a diagnosis or treatment, and failed to attend sleep study referrals in 2013 and 2017.
He did not inform Canberra Sand and Gravel Landscaping Supplies of his possible sleep apnoea before starting work with the company as a truck driver in November 2017.
Livas also failed to tell the ACT Road Transport Authority about it when renewing his heavy vehicle licence six months before the July 2018 crash.
Court documents say Livas "felt more tired than usual" in the days leading up to the crash.
Early on the morning of the incident, Livas delivered a truckload of landscaping supplies to a property in Burra, using a work truck with no faults or defects.
About 9.26am, he was returning to the Canberra Sand and Gravel Landscaping Supplies yard when, travelling about 70 kilometres per hour, he crashed the truck into the Ford Territory carrying Blake.
The car had been stationary for about 16 seconds when it was hit, and there were another nine stationary vehicles in front of it.
The impact of the crash caused Blake, who was in the Ford's rear passenger seat, to die instantly from a catastrophic brain injury.
According to court documents, Livas got out of his truck after the crash and repeatedly told a number of people that "they cut me off".
But the documents say he also admitted to paramedics at the scene that "I was driving my truck and at some point I blacked out", and that "I'm not aware if I put my foot on the brake".
A police investigation found no vehicle had "cut off" the truck before the crash.
Defence lawyer Paul Edmonds applied for Livas to be granted bail ahead of sentencing, saying the man had not been subject to bail conditions since being charged and had still turned up to court each time he had been required.
Mr Edmonds said Livas had "significant ties to the territory" and if he intended to flee, he had already had ample time to do so.
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson said bail should be refused because Livas had pleaded guilty and a prison sentence was now inevitable.
Mr Williamson said there was also evidence before the court that Livas had driven, or at least formed an intention to drive, since the crash despite his licence having been suspended.
This assertion was based on a form relating to a sleep study Livas eventually underwent in January 2019. In response to a question about how he would travel to and from the appointment, there was a handwritten response that said "drive".
But Mr Edmonds said Livas had instructed him that the handwriting in question was not his, and there was no evidence that Livas had indeed driven since the crash.
Justice Michael Elkaim said he would disregard this element of the bail application because medical notes were "notoriously unreliable".
However, he found that because a jail sentence was inevitable and in light of Livas' "lengthy" criminal history, the 57-year-old should be refused bail.
Livas' record includes being jailed for rape after an incident in 2010, when he fraudulently obtained a prostitute's consent for sex.
He gave the woman an envelope and repeatedly told her to trust that it contained the fee they had agreed.
But after they had started having sex, the woman opened the envelope and found it only contained a card and a piece of paper that had been folded several times to give the appearance the envelope was full.
Livas will be sentenced for the crash at a later date.
