- Shannon Cox has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
- Cox, 38, was involved in a fatal car collision last month.
- He has seen his initial charges overturned in court.
A former AFL footballer has had two charges upgraded after appearing in court for his role in a crash that killed two elderly women in Cooljarloo last month.
Shannon Cox, 38, was initially charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death following a double fatality on June 7.
Thelma Clausen, 82, and Coral Seinor, 83, were killed when the car they were travelling in collided with a Toyota Prado and a road train towing two trailers on a highway approximately 170 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia.
Another passenger, a 12-year-old girl believed to be Cox’s daughter, was also in the Prado and suffered minor injuries. She was treated by paramedics at the scene.
On Monday afternoon, it was confirmed that both of his charges had been upgraded to manslaughter after he faced Geraldton Court on new charges of unlawfully killing another person in circumstances not amounting to murder.
Charges against Cox were upgraded after the results of a drug test taken the day of the collision were analyzed, police prosecutor Sgt. Beau Jones said.
Jones added that he opposed bail, arguing that the murder charges came after Cox’s history of “serious drug” offences.
His defence lawyer Paul Holmes said Cox, who played 25 games for Collingwood, had shown he could afford bail and that while the charges had been aggravated, they were the same allegations for which he had previously been granted bail.
Shannon Cox was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in court on Monday.
His initial charges were upgraded after he was involved in a fatal car collision.
Magistrate Robert Young granted Cox bail on the same terms as before the enhancement.
Cox has pleaded no contest to the charges and must report to Geraldton police station three days a week, surrender his passport and submit to random urine tests.
His next court appearance is scheduled for July 24 at Stirling Gardens Magistrates’ Court.
Cox was drafted by Collingwood in 2005 and played 25 games for the club before retiring ahead of the 2010 season, explaining that he had lost his passion for the game.
He later played rural football, representing Rovers in the Great Northern Football League.
The deaths of Clausen and Seinor, residents of the coastal town of Jurien Bay north of Perth, have rocked their community.
“Two beautiful women who did so much together,” said a member of the Rural Women’s Association branch, where both worked as volunteers.
“Always smiling, always willing to share their knowledge. It’s a tragedy to lose these two beautiful souls the way they were taken.”
Two elderly pensioners have died as a result of a collision in Western Australia
The pensioners were travelling to celebrate the CWA Centenary at the Badgingarra Choral and Dramatic Festival before the collision. They both died instantly.
Tributes flooded social media, with one person saying: “They truly were the meaning of community.”
They were also described as “the backbone of the Jurien Bay community” as well as “treasured icons” who worked “tirelessly” for others.
