The Shepparton resident’s family spoke of their grief in victim impact statements at the court hearing for the teenage driver of the other car that had gone through a stop sign, hitting their father’s car and killing him.
Riley Jack Camin, 19, pleaded guilty in Shepparton County Court to dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing serious injury.
Mr Eagle’s three adult children spoke of the effects the death of their father had on them, their mother and their families.
“To hear the words ‘your father has been killed in a car accident’ is the biggest shock,” oldest son Michael Eagle said of the 4.30am phone call he received from his mother to break the news.
In the statement read to the court, Michael Eagle addressed Camin directly.
“Your careless, inattentive, dangerous driving ... I will never be able to forgive you,” he said.
“Mum and Dad looked forward to their retirement. In a millisecond you have taken that away and destroyed our family.”
Youngest son Timothy Eagle told of how all of the family’s lives had been impacted.
“Not a day goes by where I don’t think about what happened to my dad,” he said.
The court heard how Mr Eagle had been shooting rabbits at a Kyabram golf course on the night of January 20 to help keep vermin down at the club — something he had done for years.
He was on his way home to Shepparton when the crash occurred about 10.35pm.
At the same time, Camin, then aged 18, was driving his mum’s ute back to Kyabram from Shepparton with a mate.
He was driving north on Dunbar Rd, Kyabram when he went through a stop sign and collided with Mr Eagle, who was driving along Lancaster Rd.
The court heard Camin was travelling at 102km/h when he hit the brakes about 10m from the intersection.
By the time he hit Mr Eagle’s vehicle, Camin’s ute was still travelling at 85km/h, while Mr Eagle was travelling at 89km/h.
Mr Eagle died in the crash, while Camin’s passenger was flown to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne suffering from injuries that included a ruptured diaphragm, multiple hand bone and rib fractures, a collapsed lung, bruising of the heart, damage to his spleen and liver, and a fractured leg and wrist.
Camin’s defence counsel Susanna Locke said Camin “lives with the knowledge he has caused Mr Eagle’s death” and had written a letter to the Eagle family.
While she acknowledged the devastating consequences of the crash, Ms Locke said Camin’s offending “fell towards the lower end of these types of offences”, with no alcohol or drugs involved.
“It was the result of momentary inattention that had devastation for Mr Eagle,” she said.
Ms Locke said the intersection had long grass and a channel and “you had to creep up to the intersection to see what is happening”.
She said her client told those at the scene he was “talking to my mate and it came out of nowhere. I slammed on the brakes but it was too late”.
Ms Locke told the court Camin had spent much of his younger years living in Kyabram but had been living in Deniliquin at the time of the crash, where he was doing an engineering and fabrication apprenticeship.
She tabled letters to the court from Camin’s employer and representatives of the Girgarre Football Netball Club where he was a captain of his team.
Camin’s parents also wrote a letter where they explained how their son had gone from being a “happy-go-lucky kid” before the crash to now suffering from night terrors and still flinching and panicking every time he had to go through the intersection.
“That is something that will go through his head and heart for the rest of his life,” they said of the crash.
Ms Locke asked for a Youth Justice Centre order for her client, citing his young age, otherwise good character, remorse and prospects of rehabilitation.
Judge David Brookes ordered a Youth Justice Centre assessment be done but said it was “no guarantee that will be the disposition he will be given”.
Camin will return to court in December to be sentenced.
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