Scotney John Duncomb, 37, of King Street, Warrnambool, pleaded not guilty in the Warrnambool County Court during January this year to culpable driving and dangerous driving causing the death of 80-year-old Mortlake man Ellis Arnott.

A jury took just over an hour to return a verdict of guilty to culpable driving causing death. 

Duncomb also pleaded guilty to possessing ecstasy after police found three tablets and an ice pipe in a paddock near the accident after he was seen climbing through a fence. 

Yesterday, judge Mark Taft jailed Duncomb for seven years, with a minimum of five years to serve before being eligible for parole.

Judge Taft found there was little evidence of Duncomb being remorseful.

“I accept you were shocked and shaken by the consequences of the collision, but in my view, it is telling that you engaged in a further episode of trafficking methylamphetamine some months after the fatality,” he said.

“At the time that you collided with Mr Arnott’s car you well knew that you should not engage with methylamphetamine. 

“You continued to do so with fatal consequences.”

Judge Taft said he considered the case a serious example of culpable driving and that Duncomb’s moral culpability was high.

The crash happened on July 10, 2013, on a straight stretch of road in daylight.

Duncomb had veered onto the wrong side of the road and the oncoming white Toyota van could have and should have been seen from some distance.

The brother of the deceased, George Arnott, said in a victim impact statement it was not fair that his brother had died in such a manner.

He said he missed his brother very much and particularly missed laughing with his last remaining sibling.

Duncomb returned high readings to both ice (.55) and speed (.28), with experts detailing the ceiling level for ice impairment was .53.

The experts stated the effects of ice and speed on drivers included risk-taking behaviour, a reduced ability to see and react to what was going on around them and slower decision-making capacity.

Judge Taft said the jury verdict was a clear recognition that Duncomb’s decision-making was adversely affected by the consumption of ice and speed.

Duncomb told a mental health professional he began using cannabis  when he was 13, and when he was 25 his brother tragically died in his arms after being run over. 

Judge Taft said Duncomb had not coped well with that trauma.

After the accident, Duncomb used ecstasy for three to four years and then started using significant amounts of speed before taking ice daily. In 2009, Duncomb was sentenced for trafficking speed and cannabis, and during September 2013 was jailed for three months for trafficking ecstasy and ice. 

Duncomb was jailed for four months in November last year for trafficking trafficking ice.

Duncomb was also convicted and fined $250 and his driver’s licence was disqualified for six years.