Top cop speaks as son’s killer avoids jail

South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has spoken about his family’s relentless grief after the young man who struck and caused the death of his son Charlie in a tragic car crash learned his fate in court.

Dhirren Randhawa, 19, was sentenced at Adelaide District Court on Tuesday to 13 months in prison for driving without due care and leaving the scene of an accident after causing death for the 2023 Goolwa Beach crash that left Charlie with irreversible brain damage.

She 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 as key reasons 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.”

Judge Joanne Tracey also cancelled Randhawa’s license for ten years.

Commissioner Stevens, speaking on Tuesday after the sentence, said he and his family were “grateful” the court process had finished.

“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.”

Randhawa sat quietly throughout proceedings on Tuesday 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.

Charlie was out celebrating schoolies with friends in November last year when the tragedy unfolded.

The group has been waiting at a bus stop on Beach Road at 9pm when the crash happened.

Some of the group were drinking alcohol, Judge Tracey said, and they moved onto the road and flagged down Randhawa, who was driving to Goolwa Beach, to ask him for a lift to nearby Victor Harbour.

Randhawa declined, the court was told, telling the group he didn’t want to risk any demerit points.

He then drove off, but decided to go 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.”

Charlie died at Flinders Medical Centre aged 18.

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.

The court was also told Randhawa had accelerated towards Charlie and his friends knowing they were on or had just been on the roadway.

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

Charlie’s death sent shockwaves through South Australia and the nation more broadly.

He was farewelled at the Adelaide Oval before hundreds of mourners.

Commissioner Stevens, in his eulogy for Charlie, called him an “unforgettable” part of their lives.

“Charlie, your mum and I love you,” he said.

“We are devastated that you were taken from us so soon. We said you were a force of nature, full of energy, unstoppable. Unforgettable.”