Terrible hit-and-run crash sent shockwaves across Australia

It has been almost a year since a hit-and-run crash in South Australia sent shockwaves across the country.

Charlie Stevens, the larrikin 18-year-old son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, was out with friends on a Friday night celebrating schoolies in the town of Goolwa Beach.

About 9pm on Beach Road, tragedy unfolded.

A car struck Charlie and his friends desperately dialled triple-0.

Charlie, a vivacious youngster on the cusp of a bright life ahead, suffered irreversible brain damage in the horrific smash.

He died at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide the following night, surrounded by shell-shocked family, including Commissioner Stevens and his wife Emma.

The horror of the event broke the hearts of thousands across Australia.

And it immediately became a closely watched court case, with each appearance of the driver at the centre of the storm, Dhirren Randhawa, descending into a wild media scrum, with reporters desperate to hear from the man behind the wheel.

The court case has now finished, with Randhawa sentenced this week, and we have a fuller picture of what happened on that terrible night and the widespread trauma it has left behind.

What Happened?

Charlie and Randhawa intersected just before 9pm on November 17, 2023, on Beach Road at Goolwa Beach, a small ocean side enclave south of Adelaide.

In her sentencing remarks for Randhawa, Judge Joanne Tracey said Charlie and three of his friends had left the Stevens family shack at Goolwa Beach to catch a bus to the nearby town of Victor Harbour.

Dhirren was driving south on Beach Road towards Goolwa Beach with his girlfriend, deciding whether to go to her house in the town or go to schoolies at Victor Harbour.

Charlie and his friends were waiting at a bus stop on Beach Road.

Some of the group were drinking alcohol, Judge Tracey said, and they moved onto the road to flag down Dhirren and ask him for a lift to Victor Harbour.

Dhirren, driving a blue VW Golf, stopped to speak to them, but declined to offer them a lift, worried he might lose his P-plate license.

The court was told the conversation between the two parties was amicable.

Dhirren continued driving towards Goolwa Beach, but then turned around to head back to Victor Harbour.

“You turned around and were heading back to Victor Harbour when you came across the young men again, standing in the north bound lane where you had left them,” Judge Tracey said.

“You were accelerating as you approached.

“The young men moved west … and you moved across into the south bound lane to allow a safe distance to pass.

“Your focus was on the group to your left and you had not noticed Charlie Stevens on the eastern side of the road.

“As you reached the group, Mr Stevens was in the south bound lane of Beach Road moving west and onto the path of your vehicle.

“He then turned to make his way back … attempting to avoid you.

“When you first saw him, you did not immediately brake or accelerate but turn in a north-westerly direction away from him, to avoid hitting him, but you were unsuccessful.”

Jane Abbey KC, appearing for Randhawa, said at an earlier hearing the parties accepted “Mr Randhawa ought to have kept a better attention to any risk that might have presented itself out of darkness on the other side of the road.”

“And it was incumbent on him (Dhirren) to keep a better look out to the opposite side of the road,” she said.

Randhawa was not intoxicated at the time of the crash, the court was told, and he did not break the speed limit.

After the crash, Randhawa drove away in a state of shock and pulled over to call his mother.

His mother advised him to report the incident to the police immediately, which he then did.

Shockwaves

Shock and heartbreak swiftly rippled out across Australia.

In the words of Director of Public Prosecutions Martin Hinton KC, speaking in court, the sight of tragedy striking at the Police Commissioner unnerved the community.

“It (the case) is unique because the death of Charlie Stevens has touched the community broadly,” Mr Hinton said.

“Grief has been expressed widely and deeply. In some quarters it has been inappropriately expressed.

“An expression of how offending of this kind can impact the community, reflects the impact it has upon the community’s sense of safety.

“The commissioner’s son, with all the might and power the commissioner has, could not be protected.

“That touched us all.”

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, speaking a day after the crash, said it demonstrated in a brutal way how “bad things” could happen to good people.

“They (the Stevens family) are good people,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“We all too often find ourselves desperately wishing that bad things don’t happen to good people. Yet too often that is the case, and this is clearly an example of it.”

The Letter

The national grief then amplified following the release of a public letter from Commissioner Stevens on November 21, in which the family wrote about “101”, a reference to that year’s road deaths in South Australia.

Charlie’s death marked the 101st life lost on the road in the state year-to-date.

“I am writing this sitting in a bedroom with dirty clothes on the floor, an unmade bed, six drinking glasses lined up on the bedside table, an empty KFC box next to the glasses, wardrobe doors left open and a row of skateboards leaning on the wall – it is a mess and it’s perfect. This is where 101 lived,” Mr Stevens wrote.

“Cheeky, intense and funny – a loveable ratbag from the moment he could talk. He was as frustrating as hell, but he was also the kid who would look after others, befriend the lonely, and help those who were struggling.

“Intensity shone through as 101 committed to each new passion – Lego, BBL, scooters, footy, cricket, basketball, surfing, down-hilling, Fortnight and his skateboard – it was all or nothing and it was always all.

“101 is Charles Stevens – Charlie, Charlie Boy, Chas, Links, Steve. You lived life and gave so much to so many. You were a force of nature and we will never forget your beautiful cheeky, disarming smile.

“Son, brother, grandson, uncle, nephew, cousin, friends, workmate, teammate. So much more than just a number on a tragic tally.”

The remarkable letter produced a flood of tears.

Sunrise host Natalie Barr broke down live on TV, while her co-host Matthew Shirvington read an excerpt from the letter, his own voice breaking at one point.

Mr Malinauskas said he and his wife Annabel shed tears reading the emotional letter.

“Here’s a family that is grieving, has every reason to be utterly devastated and thinking about themselves and how they get through it, yet what they’re doing is thinking of others,” he said.

“Thinking about how this tragedy might translate to a lesson for everybody else in the community, not just thinking about their son but thinking about the other 100 victims who’ve been lost in the road toll.

“What marvellous people.”

The letter has now been preserved in Australian parliamentary history after federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton read the letter to the House on Tuesday in tribute to Mr Stevens and his family following a conversation with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Farewell to Charlie

Nearly a thousand mourners gathered at the Adelaide Oval on November 30 to farewell Charlie.

In an emotional service, Commissioner Stevens, wife Emma and siblings Dylan, Tom, Josh and Sophie paid tribute to the beloved young man.

Addressing his son directly, Mr Stevens said: “Charlie, your mum and I love you. We are devastated that you were taken from us so soon.

“We said you were a force of nature, full of energy, unstoppable. Unforgettable.”

Mr Stevens’ voice broke when he looked to Charlie’s friends and thanked them for being with the family in their time of grief and pain.

“It’s meant the world to us that Charlie’s mates have spent so much time with us since we lost him,” he said.

“It warmed our hearts to have that group of boys just being in our home.”

Charlie’s tearful mates remembered their friend, with Charlie’s loyalty, larger-than-life personality and devotion to friendship shining through in the speeches.

“What truly inspired me about you was your ability to live in the present … You were always smiling, always dancing,” one friend said.

Another said “Charlie loved people and people loved Charlie.”

One friend promised to live a life Charlie would be proud of.

The service started with Youth Group’s Forever Young sounding out through a packed William Magarey Room at the Oval.

Dylan, Josh, Tom and Sophie wrapped their arms around one another as they farewelled their brother.

Towards the end of the service, the crowd stood for a minute’s silence to reflect on what Charlie had meant to them.

Randhawa in court

Randhawa made his first court appearance at Christies Beach Magistrates Court on the Monday after the Friday night crash.

A gaggle of media waited all day for the case to be called and then pressed Randhawa for some comment as he left the court on bail and moved into a waiting car.

The slim, quiet young man declined to make any statement, and pushed through the scrum into the car that day with the assistance of his mother Amreeta Stara.

His appearances at court would follow that pattern.

He would walk quickly to and from court alongside his mother, staring ahead as reporters and cameramen crowded around him.

The police originally charged Randhawa with causing death by dangerous driving, aggravated driving without due care, leaving the scene of a crash after causing death and failing to truly answer questions.

Accused Charlie Stevens hit-and-run driver Dhirren Randhawa leaves Christies Beach Magistrates Court after being granted bail on November 20, 2023.

But as the case progressed through the courts and following negotiations between the defence and prosecution, Randhawa eventually pleaded guilty on June 4 to the lesser charge of aggravated driving without due care and leaving the scene of an accident after causing death.

‘We don’t have Charlie and we want you to remember that’

On October 2, the Stevens family attended Adelaide District Court and faced Randhawa as he stood before them in the dock, with Judge Tracey presiding.

The parties had gathered for sentencing submissions, a legal step in which the defence and prosecution propose what they deem an appropriate punishment for the offending before them.

Commissioner Stevens and Charlie’s sister Sophie Tregloan delivered victim impact statements.

“Not a single day goes by when we don’t talk about Charlie, when we don’t talk about him together, there is not a day when we don’t shed a tear thinking about our son and how much we miss him,” Commissioner Stevens said.

“Charlie would have been 19 on the 28th of April this year, but instead of celebrating it, it took all our efforts just to get through the day.

“And we know that that grief is with us for the rest of our lives.”

Commissioner Stevens looked directly at Randhawa before speaking.

“We acknowledge you have taken responsibility for what you have done and we are sure this has been difficult for you,” he told the young man.

“But you get to move on and the people close to you still have you in their lives. We don’t have Charlie and we want you to remember that.”

In an emotional statement, Sophie spoke about feeling “physically sick” after receiving the phone call from her mother Emma telling her Charlie had been hit by a car.

“You have taken so much from us in a split second dumb decision,” she said.

Randhawa delivered an apology to the Stevens family, reading quietly from a letter.

“You’re always on my mind and so is Charlie and you will be forever,” he said.

“There’s so much I’d like to say but mostly I want to say I’m sorry, and I’m sorry Charlie.”

His mother Amreeta Stara wept as she expressed her devastation over the event.

“Words cannot adequately convey the sorrow and regret that I feel for this devastating incident,” she said.

She spoke of the “emotional and mental turmoil” that has gripped her family since November.

“It has traumatically changed our lives forever,” she said.

Ms Abbey asked Judge Tracey to suspend any sentence she might impose on Randhawa, arguing his youth, good character, early pleas and deep and genuine remorse made him a good prospect for rehabilitation.

“His future and the community’s future are better should he not be incarcerated,” she said.

She also noted that Randhawa could face deportation to Kuala Lumpur if he was imprisoned, even though he has lived much of his life in Australia where most of his family connections are based.

Mr Hinton argued a term of imprisonment was appropriate to maintain a principle of “general deterrence”.

“General deterrence must move drivers to have regard to the safety and rights of other road users on the road, including pedestrians, crossing the road,” he said.

Judge Tracey spent three weeks considering her sentence for Randhawa.

The sentence

On Tuesday, the sentence came down.

Randhawa was sentenced to 13 months in prison for the crash, but the jail term was suspended, meaning Randhawa walked free that day.

Judge Tracey suspended the sentence with a two-year good behaviour bond, citing Randhawa’s youth, lack of prior offending, the circumstances of the offending, his genuine remorse and his guilty pleas for the suspension.

“You have accepted there was more you could have done to avoid this tragic outcome,” she said.

“It is, of course, the case you had no intention to harm anyone that night.

“It is an offence any one of us as road users may commit if we do not take proper care or drive without proper attention.”

She also cancelled Randhawa’s licence for 10 years.

Randhawa sat quietly throughout proceedings and remained stone-faced after receiving his sentence.

He moved quickly with his mother through a media scrum outside the court and declined to make any statement.

‘Not getting easier’

But though the court case has concluded, the pain rolls on

In a statement following the sentence, Commissioner Stevens said what happened in the court would not “change anything for our family”.

“The judge said in summing up today … no matter what happens in the courtroom today, it’s not going to change anything for our family, and I think that’s a very true statement,” he said alongside his wife Emma.

“We’re grateful this part of the entire process is over.

“Each court date that has come up has been difficult, stressful and emotional for our family.

“We’re grateful Dhirren chose to plead guilty to his offence because that brought this part of it to a conclusion much more quickly.

“It is one of those things, we are continuing to learn how to live with every single day without Charlie.

“It’s not getting any easier, as I’m sure people who have lost a child would appreciate.

“We’re very grateful for the support and the sympathy we’ve received from the South Australian community … there’s no way we can acknowledge or repay that in any other format other than thanking people for their support.”